Myosotis Redux
by She-Who-Dances-With-The-Stars
Summary: Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear', a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'. The Council planted the false memories in Revan just fine. Its just that they didnt stick. Its a good thing for the Republic that Revan half welcomes the vacation
1. Chapter 1

Myosotis

_Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear', a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'_

Author's Note: So this is the Redux, with minimal changes. Honestly, if you've read the original, you can just skip this and go straight to chapter 6, skim over that and then read chapter seven. If not, then here you go.

How to pronounce her name: Jessel (Gi-ZEL) Nidalas (ni-DAH-las). It is one that I made up myself in case you were wondering.

And for all those people who like Carth/Revan, sorry. I like it too! But…this is not a Carth/Revan story.

Disclaimer: No ownies. I do own the concept of Jessel, and the name Jessel Nidalas itself, but other than that, nothing.

* * *

Prologue

The Jedi Council stationed on Dantooine were having a bit of a problem. The young Padawan Bastila had captured Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith, and they had come to the decision to erase her memory and program a new identity for her, but couldn't decide on what to make her. Vrook wanted her to be a Republic soldier, malleable and used to following orders, while Zhar said it was beneath her abilities and suggested a scout. Vandar suggested a scoundrel to go with her charismatic ways, and Dorak was undecided. Bastila was standing to the side, watching the argument go back and forth.

She honestly thought that any of those was wrong for one such as Revan, who she could feel through the Force Bond that had developed between them when she had saved the Sith Lord's life after Revan's ship had been attacked by her apprentice, Malak. The small part in the back of her mind that she labelled 'Revan' pulsated like a heart beat, giving off a warmth that was strangely comforting in its regularity.

"Decided, it is then. A Scoundrel, Jessel Nidalas, Revan shall become." Master Vandar declared, bringing Bastila back to her senses. She blinked in surprise at the choice, but didn't speak up. It wasn't her place to speak against the wishes of the Council.

Vandar held his hands above the unconscious woman's brow while the others touched his shoulders, lending their power to help him in this task. Bastila could feel the Force pressurising in the room, focusing upon the mind of Revan, and she watched as a strange blue mist flowed from Vandar's palms and into her forehead. Revan's brow furrowed, and she grunted, her arms and legs occasionally twitching as the false memories where forced upon her, smothering and locking away her knowledge of her life as Revan.

After what felt like hours later, Vandar stepped back from the bed and wiped his brow of the sweat that had gathered there. He glanced at the other Masters from the corners of his eyes, and they nodded in reply.

"We will relocate her to Manaan under the pretence of needing the Kolto as soon as possible. There, we will give her two options: go to jail for her 'crimes' as a smuggler, or join the Republic. We shall transfer her to the Endar Spire after she has gone through the needed checks and skills evaluation. This is where Padawan Bastila will be stationed also, and Bastila shall keep an eye on her to see if she remembers anything." Dorak explained, and he turned to Bastila. "Do you understand your task?"

"I do, Masters."

"Very well. We shall relocate her tomorrow. Until then, she will be quarantined in these quarters. Not a single word of this is to be breathed, _to anyone_. Let them all believe that Revan died on that ship, betrayed by her own apprentice. That is all."

And just like that, Bastila was dismissed, and all the Masters except Zhar filed out after her. Zhar would be staying behind to make sure she did not wake until she was on Manaan, and the Jedi were far away.

For the life of her, Bastila couldn't understand the profound sadness she felt at the thought of Revan dieing, to be replaced by this other woman, who would never know the tricks they got up to in the academy, who would never give her one of those secret smiles that said everything would be fine.

Who would never know that, for a while, she had been family.

* * *

"Ugh. What hit me? It feels like I drank a whole bunch of Juma, then got clobbered over the head by a Mandalorian, strapped to the front of a Swoop Bike and driven off the walkways of Kashyyyk." The woman on the bed groaned, and the nearest Selkath doctor moved to help her.

"_Your ship crashed here on Manaan. You were almost lost at sea, but a passing Jedi managed to rescue you._" He explained, and she groaned again, throwing her arm over her eyes to block out the light.

"Oh, those fargle-boned dwarfnuts! I told them not to go drinking and flying while I was on board!" She peered at the Selkath from behind her fingers. "Did my crew survive?"

He shook his head in apology, and she swore again, before struggling to sit up. He helped her and she peered up at him again through thick, black, bantha-fur bangs. "Thanks for your help, I guess. Any way I can get a ship and skedaddle?"

"I'm afraid that isn't possible, Miss Nidalas. I am here to tell you that you have been detained under Republic law for numerous counts of smuggling and theft." An official looking man wearing the standard red Republic armour strode in, smiling humourlessly at her. She looked at him and scrunched her nose in annoyance before sighing.

"All right, how much is it gonna cost me this time?" She asked, and he chuckled lowly.

"It's not that simple this time, Jessel." She raised an eyebrow at him and snorted.

"You sure are afraid of a lot, aren't you? But then, I s'pose that's why you're losing this war." She shot, and he scowled at her.

"I wouldn't push it if I were you, Nidalas. The way I see it, you have two options. Option one, you can go to jail and do your time, which will be a few years at least, or option two; you can sign up to the Republic for a bit and help us _win_ this war." He stated, and it was her turn to scowl.

"No option three: 'I knock you out and get the hell off this planet, consequently disappearing for a few years'?"

"_This is Manaan. There is a strict no violence rule employed here, so any violence would result in the Selkath forces coming and placing you in jail anyway._" The doctor spoke up and the Republic officer nodded in confirmation. She just sighed and peered through her bangs at the officer, narrowing her eyes.

"Fine." She growled out, and he smirked coldly at her.

"Welcome to the Republic Army Corps, soldier. Don't get shot." He turned smartly on his heel and strode out, leaving her sitting on the bed glaring at his back. The Selkath doctor took that as his cue to check her over one last time, before releasing her.

As she strode out of the medical building and turned in the direction of the Republic Embassy, she searched her mind for the little spot that pulsed with warmth, before sending a grimly amused thought down the line.

_I know_.

And with that, Revan – no, she was Jessel now – strolled towards her destination, and a new chapter in her life.

* * *

Back on Dantooine, Bastila shivered as two words appeared unbidden in her mind, sounding suspiciously like Revan listening to a romantic story and finding amusement in the death of the main protagonist's lover.

_I know_.

She thought about telling the Council, but something ruthlessly squashed the thought and she forgot all about it.

It was for the best, really.

* * *

"The first thing that's going to have to go is the hair." Jessel twitched at the officer in front of her. The woman was supposed to be inducting her into the Corps, but so far all she had done was criticise her. And she wanted to get rid of her hair! "I mean, I suppose you could put most of it up in a ponytail or bun, but the fringe is just going to have to go. It's simply way too long. What in space possessed you to grow it down to your nose, and then wear it covering your face? It just looks silly. How can you _see_?What were you even _thinking_?"

Jessel would be the first to admit that she was attached to her hair. It had taken her forever to grow it out to its current length, almost brushing her bottom, after cutting it when she was fourteen. So when the woman, who was a Republic officer and her superior – for now anyway – started criticising it, and then actually _reached_ for a pair of scissors, she acted. She dropped down and swept the officer of her feet, grabbing the scissors before they could hurt someone, or her hair, and stepped back, holding said cutting object in her left hand defensively.

"Ouch! What the haja were you thinking, recruit? I am your superior, I could get you in a ton of trouble! What in the Core worlds possessed you to do something so _stupid_?" She screeched from the floor, and Jessel smirked.

"Just proving a point, _ma'am_." She stated, and crossed her arms,

"Oh? And what _point_ could possibly so important that you would risk insubordination and latrine duty?"

"My hair does not restrict my vision, or my effectiveness." Jessel watched as the woman pulled herself up, mentally noting how close she had come to cracking her head on the side of the desk.

"Hmph! Fine, keep your fracking hair! But it's not my fault if you get picked up on it later, or if someone captures you because they grab hold of it!" The officer straightened her clothing and cast a critical eye over Jessel before waving her hand dismissively at her. "Get out of my sights. I don't ever want to see you in this office again!"

Jessel smiled in triumph before saluting the woman – mockingly – and sauntering out of the office. _Maybe this'll be a good vacation. Force knows I need one after all that fighting and conquering._

* * *

"I don't believe it."

"Who is she?"

"She's incredible!"

"Look at her go!"

Jessel ducked under another blade, lunging forward to stab the recruit she was currently facing off against. They were holding spars to test the new recruits abilities in swordplay, and she was currently dominating the others. She spun to her right and brought the sword they had given her upwards in a slashing motion, which would have rendered the man in two from hip to shoulder. As it was, he got a nasty bruise.

The recruit was desperately trying to hold his own against her, but he didn't stand a chance. She had been practising with _lightsabers_ for at least ten years, and they were a lot more dangerous than vibroblades and stun batons. This was child's play to her.

One last attack – a leg sweep that knocked him off his feet – and she was over him, holding her blade an inch from his throat. If she hadn't stopped, blunt blade or not, he would had died.

The room around her erupted into cheers and she grinned at the man on the floor before offering her hand to him. He took it willingly and allowed her to pull him up grimacing back at her.

"You sure don't hold back, do you?" He asked, and she chuckled.

"If I held back, you wouldn't improve, and my enemies would still be alive. I only ever fight an enemy once if I can help it. After all, there's no such thing as overkill." She paused for a second, thinking. "Unless you cut someone's head off, then repeatedly stab, dismember and generally mutilate their bodies for the next ten minutes because you just 'weren't entirely sure'. Then it's overkill."

"…You've seen someone do that?" He asked her, and she shrugged.

"Yeah. In his defence, he was going a little loopy from anger. And it was during the Mandalorian Wars. That guy was insane…Luckily I managed to snap him out of it. Come to think of it, he returned to the Council after the wars, but I haven't heard of him recently. I wonder what happened?" She looked thoughtfully into the distance before shrugging again and grinning at her fellow recruit. "Well, I'm off to the shooting ranges! Gotta see if my accuracy has improved, or if I'm still absolutely _osik_ at it."

She dumped the blade in the basket for dull swords beside the door and jogged out of the room, leaving behind a room filled with slightly confused, shocked and amused recruits.

* * *

"How the _frag_ do you manage to kick arse at swordsmanship, but absolutely _suck_ at shooting? I mean, you're a genius with the blade, sure, but you can barely hold a pistol properly in those hands!" Another recruit, female this time, sat next to her at the mess table, and Jessel shrugged.

"I never had to practice my blaster use much. I was more for the whole 'run in and slaughter everyone' option than the 'stand back and shoot them down before they reach you' option. So, my swords got a got workout and my blasters got a few layers of dust. I mean, I could probably learn to use the things, but I honestly can't be bothered." She explained, scooping some sort of green bean onto her fork and into her mouth.

"Uhuh. Well, I am not going to rest until you have learnt to at least _hold_ a blaster properly." The other woman said, slamming her fist down on the table for emphasis and knocking her cup of water over. "Oops…"

Jessel merely shook her head in amusement, taking the opportunity to look around the busy mess hall. It was full of officers, soldiers and new recruits, with the recruits all being shunted into one corner because of their 'dreadful skills' and 'new' status. A clatter across the table from her caused her to look back and see the brown haired male from the sparring room slid onto the bench with his own meal.

"What's this? The sword-genius can't hold a simply blaster properly? Hah! Go figure." He snorted at the thought as he dug into his meal and Jessel's companion focused her attentions on him for a minute before laughing.

"Hah! And I'm guessing you were the poor sod she obliterated, Hex?" She asked him, and he grimaced at her. _So his name is Hex._

"Yeah. I've got this marvellous bruise starting at my hip and going across my chest, up to my shoulder. Some of the skin had even broken from the force of her blow. I pity whoever else has to fight her hand to hand." Jessel noted that he was moving a little gingerly, probably so he didn't aggravate his injuries. "I reckon she might have cracked a rib or two."

"With one of those practise blades?" She found herself under the wide eyed stare of her blonde companion. "Wow, you really are a hack-and-slasher, aren't you?"

Jessel shrugged and flashed a grin at her two companions. "I'm not the worst person you could meet."

"Yeah, Nairua, you should hear the story about one of her friends from the Mandalorian Wars. He cut the head of his enemy, then stabbed, dismembered and mutilated his body for ten minutes afterwards, simply because he 'wasn't sure' if he was dead." Hex's words were accompanied with large arm motions, and the newly named Nairua grimaced.

"Jeez, Hex, not while I'm eating." She pushed her plate away in distaste and turned to Jessel again. "You really knew someone like that?"

"Yeah. He wasn't evil, per say, but he sometimes lost himself to the bloodlust. Luckily, we made sure one of his friends always accompanied him to snap him out of it. I haven't seen him for about three years though, so I don't know how he's doing." Jessel leant back against the wall behind her, drinking in the feeling of relaxing in a way she hadn't since starting her conquest over the Republic.

"Wow. That must have been scary." Nairua breathed, and Jessel shrugged again.

"Meh. We got used to it. He was friend, so we'd do anything to help him."

Her two companions drank in the information and smiled at the thought of helping a friend in need. They would do the same. Nairua's curiosity was peaked though, so she changed the topic and asked her fellow female about her life before joining up with the Republic.

"Well, I didn't so much join up as got conscripted in return for not going to jail. I did a bit of this and a bit of that, killed a few people both accidentally and on purpose, and they decided I would serve them better here. I'm thinking of this as more of an extended vacation really. It's a lot easier to be here than it was to be out there." She explained.

"So, what were you before joining up?"

"A smuggler." She replied succinctly. _No need to tell them it was literally only for the ten seconds before I was 'recruited'._ Nairua gasped in surprise, but Hex nodded. He'd already guessed something of that sort from the vaguely concise answers she gave to their questions. It explained a lot, such as how dextrous she was, and her skills. Though the lack of blaster training in exchange for mastery with the blade was a little strange, he'd heard of a few smugglers doing the same. Nothing too bizarre.

After that revelation, the three not-quite-friends spent the rest of the meal chatting amicably amongst themselves, laughing at the stories they each had to tell, slowly growing closer.

* * *

"Recruit Nidalas. You have been assigned to the Republic ship, the Endar Spire, and will serve your contract out there. The assignment is expected to last at least two years, after which you shall be released from service and allowed to resume your previous…lifestyle." The Republic Commander in charge of the Manaan Embassy wrinkled his nose slightly at the thought, but didn't say anything on the subject. "You will be taking a flight to Coruscant at 1800 hours today, and boarding the Endar Spire immediately after landing in the Coruscant hangers, with your fellow soldiers and recruits. Dismissed."

Jessel saluted the man, rolling her eyes behind the curtain of hair that was her fringe. _Bloody Republic officers. No wonder the Mandalorians were kicking their collective arses until I came along – completely incompetent and stupid._ She strode off towards the room she shared with Nairua and two others to pack and tell her friend of the news.

As expected, Nairua was upset that her friend was disappearing for two years, but she cheered up quickly.

"You know, Carth Onasi is gonna be on that ship! He's a decorated War Hero – strong, brave, and totally handsome!" She said, pulling a holo projector from her pack and flicking through a few pictures before showing Jessel a picture of a man with brown hair and eyes and five o'clock shadow. Jessel studied him for a few moments before shrugging.

"Yeah, he's handsome, but he has too much of a past. He's probably lost a member of his family or a lover to a Sith attack recently, and carries the anger and guilt around with him." She stated, throwing some more clothing into her bag. She wasn't packing any of the Republic uniforms as she refused to wear them, so she didn't have much to pack.

"What? How can you tell that from looking at his picture?" Nairua demanded, trying to see what Jessel had seen. Jessel rolled her eyes and pointed at the picture.

"Look – see here? His eyes have a shadow, a darkness to them that says loss of someone close. These wrinkles show a constant weight, and the way his jaw is set says that he has an anger that he's carried around for a long time. It wouldn't surprise me if he has a few personality issues, like the inability to make friends, or a hard time trusting people." She pointed out, and Nairua nodded in comprehension.

"But that just makes him even more desirable! Just think about it – he is a man who has potentially lost the love of his life in a devastating attack, and has deep trust issues. It is the job of the female to gently break through the barriers he has placed around him, and slowly work him through these problems! They work together, and end up falling madly in love, and fly off into the sunset to live happily ever after! Doesn't that sound so romantic?" The blonde woman gushed, and Jessel snorted.

""No, it sounds terribly clichéd. I mean, _seriously_? Previous lost loves and deep trust issues? Breaking through barriers and working him through his problems? Falling 'deeply in love' with each other? Flying off into the sunset and living happily ever after? No thanks. I'll take my men whole, strong and without trust issues. I want a guy who will fight with me and enjoy it damn it, because otherwise they're just pansies. So, no. Carth is not my type." She picked up her bag and slung it onto her shoulder, strapping her vibroblade to her hip before turning back to her friend. "You are quite welcome to him. Now, I have to go, as my shuttle leaves in about an hour, and I have no intention of getting into even more trouble with the commander."

"Oh, all right. But I bet that as soon as you meet him and start hanging around him, you'll fall head over heels. And when this is all over, I'm going to appear and say 'I told you so'!" Nairua admonished her, and Jessel laughed.

"If that actually happens, be my guest. But if I don't, I reserve the right to say I told _you_ so when everything is over. Be a darl and tell Hex I said Goodbye, okay?" She waved over her shoulder at the blonde and strode out of the Embassy, walking quickly to her shuttle and yet another step of her vacation.

* * *

"Welcome to the Endar Spire, recruits. We will be together for another two years, so if you have to argue, don't let it interfere with your job. Dismissed."

As she stood in line waiting to board, Jessel could make out a broad shouldered male, and a petite female standing beside him. The female was wearing a tan jumpsuit with detailed flaps to give a modest feel to it. Not that it helped; the outfit was still rather tight and didn't leave much to the imagination. But she would recognise that jumpsuit anywhere. After all, she bought it for the girl.

_Bastila_.

Bastila looked around; casting her navy blue eyes everywhere, but couldn't see the person she was searching for. She knew the woman – Revan – was here somewhere, but the ex-Sith Lord was nowhere in sight. This, she supposed, was a good thing, because she didn't know how she would react to seeing her surrogate older sister here. The woman wasn't supposed to remember her now.

Jessel's eyes narrowed behind her fringe at the teen before shoving two words down the Bond, the same two she had said six months ago, when she had woken up on Manaan with two sets of memories.

_I know._

She smirked in satisfaction the way Bastila's back stiffened and the teen cast another look around the docking bay before boarding the Endar Spire, a contingent of Jedi following.

_They actually let a nineteen year old have control of a ship?_ She asked herself as she lined up and was checked off, boarding the ship herself and quickly finding her way to her room, where a blonde man was setting his own gear up on the other bunk.

He looked up at her, obviously surprised at the fact she was a woman, but shook it off.

"I'm guessing you're my bunk mate. My name's Trask Ulgo, and I'm a soldier. New recruit, just like you. Nice to meet you." He stood and stepped closer, holding his hand out, which Jessel took in a firm grip.

"Jessel Nidalas, conscripted smuggler. Pleasure's all mine." She grinned at the way he choked slightly over her occupation before running out of the room, probably to spread the news of his new acquaintance. Those soldiers gossiped more than a bunch of school girls, even the Jedi.

"Hmm. Wonder how long it'll be before we're attacked?" She mused to herself, packing her stuff into her own footlocker beside her bed.

Meh. She was on vacation, damn it. She was allowed to not worry.


	2. Chapter 2

Myosotis

_Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear'; a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'_

Author's note: This is the Redux of the story. I've fixed up any mistakes I've found, and a few other things, but nothing major. Skip ahead if you want.

Disclaimer: I don't own KotOR 1. I do however own a few of the altercation between characters, and Jessel's personality.

* * *

Chapter two

When she was knocked out of a dream after only two hours sleep, Jessel knew exactly what had happened. _Bloody Malak. Couldn't he have attacked while I was awake? Honestly_. She rolled out of bed, landing in a crouch in front of her footlocker, where she grabbed her pants and jacket, pulling them on quickly, before lacing up her boots, grimacing slightly. Laces were cool and all, but they took so long to do up.

As she stood up, her room mate that she had barely seen after their first day aboard the Endar Spire due to conflicting schedules ran in. Trask seemed to be extremely relieved to see her awake and alive, not to mention dressed as she had a habit of sleeping in her underwear. She grinned warily at him and he gestured with his pistol.

"We've been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! It's a good thing you are already dressed – we don't have much time!" He shouted at her, and she grimaced.

"Uh, yeah, okay Trask. But could you try maybe, I dunno, not shouting at me when I'm barely five feet away? You know, because it's kind of rude?" She chided him, and he had the grace to look sheepish for a few seconds before launching straight back into his speech.

"We have to find Bastila and make sure she gets off this ship alive!" He yelled, again, and Jessel sighed.

"Yes, yes, I _know_ Trask. We have to find Bastila, because she's our commanding officer, and we swore an oath. Add in the fact that she is known as the 'Republic's Last Hope' and Malak won't stop at anything to make sure she's either killed or converted, and we have a sticky situation. So, rather than standing here talking, lets _go_!" She grabbed her vibrosword from her trunk and pulled out the short dagger she kept hidden underneath her pillow when she was sleeping slipping it into her boot, before leading a slightly confused but happy to obey Trask Ulgo into the hallway beyond.

Her portable communicator beeped at her, and she pulled it out, answering the message. Carth Onasi appeared above it, and his voice rang out tinnily in the empty corridor.

"_This is Carth Onasi – the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the bridge!"_

Trask looked at Jessel, and she nodded. She didn't need any explanation – Carth was a War Hero. He knew what he was talking about. If he said things were bad…

Just through the next door, they encountered two Sith fighting a fellow Republic soldier, gunning him down easily. Trask shouted, "For the Republic!" before running out to take them head on. Jessel shook her head at his stupidity before running out to _truly_ meet them head to head – or rather, sword to neck.

They were dispatched pretty easily, with Trask standing in slight awe of her swordsmanship, and the two went on after looting the Sith's corpses. Well, Jessel looted their corpses while Trask looked on disapprovingly. Jessel merely looked him in the eye and said, "Smuggler," which made him smile sheepishly, and follow her again.

Two encounters with Sith Troopers, and some complaining about how there wasn't enough stuff to loot, Jessel opened the door on a fight between one of the Jedi that had accompanied Bastila, and a random Sith.

"It's a dark Jedi! We'd better stay back. We'll just get in the way if we get involved." Trask said, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance, but nodded. Sure, she could probably just Force Choke the guy, but that took effort! She was on vacation, damn it!

The Jedi over powered the Sith and turned to attack the two Troopers just around the corner, but a power conduit blew up behind her, and she collapsed, dead. Jessel shook her head again at the Jedi stupidity – _who seriously fights right next to a power conduit?_ – and charged the Troopers herself. Trask gave her some covering fire, but it was sloppy, and she found herself dodging his blasts just as much as the Sith attacks. She killed them quickly and looted all the bodies in the room, recovering a red lightsaber from the Sith, and a half melted one from the Jedi. _Who knows, maybe this could be useful?_

They opened the door to the bridge and were immediately attacked by two Sith just inside the door. Jessel ducked underneath their blades and launched herself upwards towards the one to her left, shoving her blade straight through his gut. She let go and rolled forward, dodging the vertical slash the other Trooper swung at the place she had been. She swept her leg out and knocked him off balance and grabbed the short sword the Sith she had killed had dropped, swinging upwards in a diagonal slash of her own. Blood sprayed over the front of her jacket, and she wiped a few spots off her cheeks as he died, before pulling her original blade out of the other one.

The rest of the Sith died when a few laser bolts hit the hull of the ship, causing the computer systems to blow up around them and the Republic soldiers fighting them. Trask stepped forward and grimaced in distaste at the blood splatter on her front.

"Bastila's not here – they must have retreated to the escape pods! We better head that way too, because though the Sith want Bastila alive, once she's gone they'll blow this ship into space dust." He stated, and Jessel nodded in agreement.

"So let's go."

She lead the way to the next room and stiffened as she felt the Sith behind the door across the room from her. Trask seemed to show some latent Force Sensitivity when he stepped up and said, "There's something behind here," but threw all common sense out the airlock by opening the door. It slid open to reveal exactly what Jessel had felt – a Force Sensitive Sith.

"Damn – another dark Jedi!" He stated, and Jessel rolled her eyes. Honestly, they were called _Sith_, not dark Jedi! But her moment of exasperation was killed when Trask charged into the room, yelling "I'll try to hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!"

Blinking in surprise, utterly perplexed at the thought of sacrificing herself for a complete stranger, Jessel shrugged and turned left, heading into the Starboard section of the ship.

Her comm. unit beeped at her again, and she answered. Carth appeared, and he looked grim.

"_This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support systems. Bastila's escape pod is away – you're the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire! I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods! But be careful. There's a Sith patrol just down the corridor. But you should be able to sneak past him. I'll see you soon."_

Jessel raised an eyebrow before sneaking up to the corner and peering around it. Just as Carth had said, there was a lone Sith in one of the corners, watching the corridor. She debated sneaking past him, before deciding she deserved the chance to let loose this once. She stepped out confidently and the Sith raised his blaster rifle, only to stop when she raised her hand.

"Don't you know who you're dealing with, foolish little boy?" She asked, and Lightning danced along her fingertips. "I am the Dark Lord Revan, conqueror of galaxies. You have no hope to measure up to me."

She released the lightning, listening to his screams as he was fried; the metal of his armour making it worse. When he collapsed, dead, a few seconds later, she smirked and looked at her hand, where more lightning was waiting, begging to be set free.

"It feels so good to brag sometimes." She murmured to herself before abolishing the lightning and continuing on her way.

After killing the Sith in the next room, Carth contacted her yet again.

"_Be careful! There's a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door! You need to find some way to thin their numbers. You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you, if you have enough repair parts. Or you could use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spire's security systems against the Sith."_

He disappeared again, and Jessel looked at her two options. Computer; meh. Sure she could use them, but not that well, and it was so impersonal. Assault droid on the other hand…_I wonder what ever happened to HK?_ She thought as she reached for a spare spanner that seemed to be lying around. _He was awesome. I really need to find him again._

With the droid up and running again, simply because she loved droids, Jessel opened the door into the next room and jumped into the fray, the droid providing backup just in case. As it was, the two of them quickly finished off the Troopers and the lone Commander in the room, and she opened the next door.

Carth Onasi was standing at a computer terminal just behind it, and when he looked up at her, his face showed his relief. "You made it just in time! Come on, there's only one active escape pod left. We can hide out on the planet below, and try to figure something out."

"Sure." Jessel shrugged agreeably and climbed in first, strapping herself into one seat before Carth climbed in afterwards and strapped himself into the other. The airlock shut tightly behind him, and Carth barely managed to strap himself in before the pod jettisoned itself out of the dying ship and down to the planet below.

Behind them, the ship blew up into space dust, just as Trask had predicted. Their escape pod hit the atmosphere roughly, and Jessel grimaced. _This is going to hurt._

The pod crashed into the pavement of Upper City, and the force made Jessel's head snap sidewards, hitting the wall of the pod beside her. Oblivion descended upon her despite her best effort to stay awake, and she knew no more.

Carth shook his head, tossing off the confusion the crash had forced upon him, and he quickly took note of his surroundings and his unconscious companion. He unbuckled the both of them and dragged her out of the pod, before picking her up and carrying her in his arms to a small alcove hidden in the shadows of a building, watching the area as he checked his companion over. She seemed all right, just knocked out, and he could feel the lump on her head, but nothing seemed wrong with it. She should wake up soon enough.

He watched the crowd that gathered around the pod and noticed an old man half sneaking around to look in the pod. The old man noticed that it was empty and shook his head, quickly disappearing back into the crowds. Carth hurriedly picked up the woman and followed the man discreetly. He led him back to an old apartment complex with a few aliens wandering around inside, and Carth darted inside after him, keeping to the shadows as best he could.

He picked the apartment most likely to be empty judging by the amount of graffiti and dust on the door lock and mailbox, and easily gained entrance, laying the dark haired woman on one of beds there.

What to do now, he had no idea. He supposed he should take a look at their injuries – she had a lot of blood on her shirt and her head needed checking out – but he was exhausted and the other bed looked so tempting. Still, injuries before sleep.

He moved her hair away from the wound, absently noting how thick and smooth it was, like a well cared for bantha-fur rug. How did she see with her fringe covering her eyes anyway? And why did she wear it so long – usually that invited people to grab it and use it against her in a fight. Unless it was her way of saying she was so good at sword fighting and hand to hand that they never grabbed her hair?

Her head wound didn't feel like a concussion, which was a good thing. She would probably be out for a day at most, and he might be able to do some scouting while he waited.

Only – now he had to check her chest. That _was_ a lot of blood. He swallowed nervously and carefully took her jacket off, only to stop. Her shirt underneath didn't have any blood stains on it, or at least, not as much as her jacket did, so that implied that at least _most _of that blood wasn't hers. There was only a small amount near her hip which was easily checked, and he gladly confirmed that she wasn't hurt.

Of course, this brought about the question of _why_. What made her so special? How did she manage to escape, and without a single wound? Was she just that good at fighting? Or…_is she a spy for the Sith?_ He froze and then scowled down at her. He couldn't be certain, but there was no way he could leave her unattended if she was a spy. He'd have to stay here and wait for her to wake up, and get some answers.

He settled into one of the chairs stationed around the room, crossed his arms and watched her, suspicion running riot in his mind.

He doubted he would get any sleep like this.

* * *

It was her moans that woke him up later that evening. For a second he panicked, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings, before remembering everything that had happened yesterday aboard the Spire, and his findings and suspicions.

Another grunt came from the woman on the bed and he watched her, his brow furrowed as he took up her tossing head and twitching muscles. It looked like a hell of a nightmare she was having.

All of a sudden she shot up in the bed, screaming the name "BASTILA!" in terror. Carth was on his feet in an instant, his pistol trained on her for a moment before his mind caught up with his body, and he holstered it, making his way cautiously over to her.

"Hey, uh…it's good to see you awake, instead of thrashing around in your sleep. That, uh…that must have been one hell of a nightmare, huh?" He internally winced at the words, but offering comfort to distraught women was not something he did on a daily basis. In fact he hadn't really done the since Morgana…

Her dry chuckle brought him out of his inner turmoil that his wife's name had brought with it. "You could say that." She said, swinging her legs off the bed and standing up. "I'm Jessel Nidalas by the way. Conscripted smuggler, contracted to the Endar Spire, now freelancing because you Republic's weren't smart enough to make sure I was contracted to anything else."

Her tone was derisive, and he frowned. "That's no way to speak. You are part of the Republic, whether you fight for it or not, so you should at least support us. We'll win this war yet."

"Pfft. Yeah right. The only reason you even have a _chance_ right now is because Malak got lucky and put Revan out of commission, and Bastila has her Battle Meditation. Personally, I don't care either way. The Republic is a stagnant beast, an eopie stuck in quicksand. If Malak doesn't conquer it, it will collapse on its own, and if he does, it'll collapse because of the endless slaughters and the lack of resources his reign will bring. He's not smart enough to keep a decent infrastructure in place." She snorted again in amusement and stretched, her shirt riding up to show off a toned stomach. Carth bristled at the insults she aimed at the Republic, but she deftly changed topics before he could go off on a tangent. "So, what's going on around here?"

"We're on the planet Taris, which is under Sith control. Their fleet is orbiting the planet, they've declared martial law, and they've imposed a planet wide quarantine. But I've been in worse spots before. I remember seeing in your service records that you understand a remarkable number of alien languages. That's pretty rare in a raw recruit, even for a smuggler, but it should come in pretty handy while we're stranded on a foreign world. Also, there's no way the Republic will be able to get anyone through the Sith blockade to help us. We need to find Bastila and get off this planet, but we can't rely on anyone but ourselves." He lectured, and Jessel barely stifled a yawn.

"Right. Remind me to ask you for information if I ever need help getting to sleep. Whatever. I'm going to do a bit of scouting, earn some credits, and see if I can find anything about Bastila's whereabouts." She said and headed for the door. Carth cleared his throat, and she looked at him over her shoulder.

"Actually, I've already deduced the most likely place for her to be. She'll probably be in the Undercity, as most of the pods crashed down there. But the Undercity is a dangerous place, so we don't want to go in unprepared. We'll definitely need credits, to buy armour and weapons, and a few medpacks and such, as well as basic necessities. We can also use this apartment as a base, but we have to keep a low profile." His voice dropped suddenly, and Jessel raised an eyebrow at him. "I've heard some grim stories about the Dark Jedi interrogation techniques. They say the Force can do terrible things to a mind. It can wipe away your memories and destroy your very identity!"

"Please, the Jedi do that too. They just don't do it as well as the Sith, that's all." Jessel contradicted, and waved a hand dismissively at him as he opened his mouth to retort. "I said it before and I'll say it again. Whatever. I didn't ask for a lecture, I asked for some information. You went off on a tangent and wasted ten minutes of my time. I'm going to take a shower, and then I'm off. You can come if you want to, or do whatever."

She strode into the refresher, picking up her jacket on the way past. When she came back out, her hair was slightly damp and clung to her face, and her jacket was cleaned of blood but dripping slightly on the floor as she hung it over a chair and opened the window beside it slightly to get a breeze through to dry it.

"Right, I'm going. You coming with?" She turned to Carth and he stood up, blaster pistol holstered but ready to be drawn at any moment.

"Yeah, I'm coming." He said, and she smirked at him.

"Thought so."

* * *

"Okay, alien scum, up against the wall! This is a raid!" Jessel groaned as she realised they had just exited the apartment and stepped straight into a potential fight. _Sadly enough, this is still more of a vacation than I've gotten in the past few years_.

"_There was a patrol here just yesterday, and they found nothing! Why do you Sith keep bothering us?_" The Duros on the right hand side complained, and the Sith soldier quickly shot him in the head.

"That's how we Sith deal with smart-mouthed aliens! Now the rest of you, up against the wall before I lose my temper again!" He shouted, gesturing wildly with his gun at the remaining Duros. Jessel rolls her eyes and put her hands up in surrender, which elicited a hiss from Carth.

"What the hell are you doing? They're Sith, damn it! We can't just surrender!"

Jessel glared at Carth over her shoulder. "You idiot! It's a raid. There's nothing to connect us with anything other than staying here without paying rent, and we can just lie about that."

"Well, I refuse!" He crossed his arms and glared back at her, daring her to say something. She growled in annoyance.

"Damn it, Carth, I do _not_ have time for-"

"What's this? Humans hiding out with aliens? They're Republic fugitives! Attack!" The Sith pointed at the arguing pair of humans, electing a yell of "For the Republic!" from Carth and a growl of annoyance from Jessel.

"Did I want to fight the man? No. But want does Carth do? Lectures me on how _important_ it is to lie low, then pick a fight with the first Sith he sees and _yells_ that he's Republic. And they wonder why I don't like them?" She grumbled as she charged in, quickly dispatching the soldier and one of the droids, while Carth took out the other one.

"_Poor Ixgil. He should never have talked back to that Sith,"_ the remaining Duros said, gesturing sadly at his fallen friend. Jessel nodded in agreement before he spoke again. "_Thanks for stepping in and saving me. This isn't the first time the Sith have come here and caused trouble for us, but hopefully it will be the last. And don't worry about the bodies either. I will move them so it looks like they were killed elsewhere. That should through any investigators off track."_

"Meh." Jessel shrugged. "It doesn't bother me, but if that's what you want to do, then go for it."

"_I will. Goodbye._" He waved as Jessel and Carth stepped over the bodies and continued around the hallway, quickly disappearing from the alien's sight.

Once they were out of earshot of that particular alien, Jessel whirled on Carth and stabbed a finger in his chest. "What the hell do you think you're playing at, Carth? One minute you're telling me we need to keep a low profile, and the next you're picking fights with Sith and _yelling out to the entire world_ that you're Republic! Do you _want_ to get captured and wake up tomorrow as Mikel, the loyal Sith Officer?"

"What? No!" He protested, pushing her finger away and rubbing his chest where she had poked him. "I just refuse to take defeat lying down. And I thought you could be trusted, not surrendering to the first Sith you see!"

"Ah. So this comes back to your lack of trust, and the issues from your past. Well, for your information, _Carth_," she stepped forward, almost coming nose to nose with him, and him took a small step back in discomfort, "I was surrendering because if you hadn't _said_ anything, those Sith would have thought we were just unfortunate enough to not be able to afford anywhere else! So I was _not_ surrendering to the Sith, I was making a tactical decision that would have saved us a lot of effort in killing those men and then hiding their bodies!"

He grunted at her words, inwardly acknowledging her point but unwilling to give anything up to her in case she _did_ end up being the enemy. She threw her hands up in a mixture of disgust and frustration before whirling around and stomping away, muttering under her breath. "Stupid Republic officers…don't know why she thinks he's so desirable…if I ever see her again I am clobbering her over the head and setting her straight…"

He pursed his lips and followed along behind ignoring most of what she said as gossip and trying to pick out anything that could possibly incriminate her. A potential enemy was everywhere, especially in the ranks of his own soldiers.

* * *

The first thing Jessel did was find the Cantina. Luckily for her, it was just a few minutes walk from their apartment building, lit up by a bunch of multicoloured signs and with a Sith patrol guard at the front. Beside her Carth stiffened at the sight, and she nudged him, scowling.

"Low profile, Republic." She warned him, and he nodded tensely, and kept his eyes carefully forward and just above head height as they walked past the guard.

Once they were inside, Jessel turned sharply and led the way to a small booth mostly hidden in the shadows, sliding into one of the seats and gesturing for Carth to take the one opposite her. He did so reluctantly, looking around the dim cantina darkly.

"Why are we here?" He asked, and Jessel rolled her eyes again. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, especially around him.

"Because _you _are going to search for clues and information – _discreetly_ – about the escape pods and such. I know you said she would probably be in the Undercity, but we need to be _certain._" She explained, and he nodded in acknowledgement. It was a valid point.

"What about you?" He asked, and she leaned back, an amused smirk playing across her face.

"What about me?"

"What are you doing while I'm gathering information?" Her smirk morphed into a grin, and he looked at her askance.

"_I'm_ going to be earning some money. I sure I could find…something…to do." She stood up again and sauntered off, and Carth glared at her back.

Typical. She would just leave him alone on a hostile planet, with the barest of instructions. And wasn't _he_ meant to be in charge? He was the superior here! But – no. She wasn't a soldier, which meant the only control he technically had was of that from a soldier to a citizen. And she certainly didn't seem the type to take orders.

He sighed in frustration before standing up and moving over to the central bar. The bartender watched him with a pitying glance, flicking over to the form that was her talking to someone on the other side of the room and back.

"Tough lady?" He asked, and Carth grunted.

"You have no idea."

* * *

It was a half drunk Carth that finally staggered away from the bar and went looking for his partner-in-search in the dark cantina. He had learnt a few things by sitting at the bar, listening to the steady beat of the music, and the half whispered conversations around him. Like, they needed to take an elevator that was guarded by a Sith to get to the Lower City. And there were two gangs running riot down there – the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkars. The Sith had actually closed off the elevator for the civilian's protection. Not that he would ever believe they could actually do something _good _– no, they were probably trying to lure everyone in a false sense of safety. Make the public believe they were not so bad after all, and then wipe the planet out, just like Telos-

No. He wasn't going to think about that. Not right now, when so much depended on him. Bastila's safety for one. But still…_Morgana, how I miss you…_

"Oi, watch it!" A voice snapped, and his head snapped up to see he had bumped into a muscle-bound man.

"Sorry, wasn't watching where I-" he started, but the man brushed him off.

"Whatever. I don't care. I'm just here to watch the show. And what a show!" Belatedly, Carth realised he had stumbled into the music corner, where a Bith band was playing a sensual jazz piece. I front of them, dancing on a platform that jutted out into the room, were two Twi'lek and a human girl, moving their hips in mesmerising patterns. He stared at the girl, trying to think why she was so familiar.

_Jessel? No. Jessel has straight hair, much longer than those curls could ever hope to be. And she never shows her face, whereas this girl is showing hers to the world. That can't be Jessel._ He nodded firmly to himself and turned away, staggering slightly as he continued his rounds in an attempt to find his wayward companion.

* * *

"_That was amazing! We could use your help more often, Jessel. Our doors are always open for you, should you decide to come back._" A purple and cream Twi'lek said, and Jessel flashed a grin at her, her eyes dancing with amusement, before taking out the headband. Her fringe fell back over her face, hiding her eyes from view.

"Maybe so, but dancing isn't really my forte, Risa. I'm more of a fighter than an entertainer." She said, and the Twi'lek nodded in acceptance. The other dancer, a sage green Twi'lek with lime highlights smiled sadly at her.

"_Why do you hide your face so? It is beautiful. You could have many suitors. And your eyes, so expressive and dark!_" She gushed, and Jessel laughed lightly at her.

"No thanks, Xyn. I've had my fair share of flings, I don't need any more." She swung her pack onto her back again and clipped her sword to her hip, pulling at her shirt to straighten it. She missed her jacket, but it was drying back at the apartment. "Well, I'm off. Take care, ladies."

She waved goodbye at them and strode out the side door that lead backstage from the music room. It was late, and Carth was probably pissed at her, but she didn't care. For a few hours of pazaak, a round in the duelling ring, and an hour dancing, she had earned quite a few credits, which would vastly help when it came to equipment.

She was walking through the pazaak den when Carth caught her, and she instantly smelt the alcohol on his breath. "Ugh, Carth. You're drunk."

He batted the statement away with a hand and glared at her. "I'm fine. Where were you? I've been looking for you for ages!"

"Oh please," Jessel scoffed and grabbed his arm, dragging him towards the exit, "you were looking for me for half an hour at most. I saw you come into the music room a little while ago, have a talk with that big guy, and leave again, looking like someone stole your puppy. Honestly."

"How come you saw me in the music room, but I didn't see you?" He stopped suddenly and jerked his arm away from the black haired woman, glaring at her. They were just inside the Cantina door, and a few people were watching them in interest. Including the Sith guard.

"This is not the time, or place for this. Come on." She tried dragging him out the door and away from peering eyes, but he refused to budge. "Damn it, Carth! Fine, you want to know? Here's how: a disguise. It's amazing what a change of clothes and hair can do to disguise a girl. There, I answered your question! Will you just _come on_ now?"

"I don't believe you, Jessel. How do I know you won't just betray me?" He seemed to be channelling a lot of pent up aggression into the argument, and Jessel growled slightly in frustration.

"You-you-you-" She growled and turned on him, her mouth twisted into a snarl. "_Gar di'kulta, atin adiik!_"

Carth seemed stunned for a moment at her use of Mandalorian, before he scowled again. "Oh yeah? Well, I don't know what you said, but whatever! I am not sticking around to be betrayed by you, and I won't let you betray her either!"

He drew his blaster on her and she saw red. This _idiot_ was drawing a blaster on _her_, Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith! Granted he didn't know about that, but she had a good enough grasp of his character to know that he would do it either way. She drew her vibrosword and moved forward in a blur, unconsciously using the Force to boost her speed. He blinked, and suddenly she was behind him, her blade raised. Before anyone could do anything, she hit the base of his skull with the hilt hard, effectively knocking him out. He crumpled to the ground with a thud and a clatter as his blaster hit the plastacrete pavement, and Jessel clipped her sword – still sheathed – back to her belt.

She stood beside his head and sneered at him, spitting on the ground beside his head. "You are nothing but a weak little boy. I pity any person who you 'protected'."

Jessel grabbed one of his arms and looped it over her neck, retrieving his blaster at the same time, before dragging him in the direction of the health clinic. She didn't think she hit him too hard, but one could never be too careful, and despite how much she despised him right now, she would need all the help she could get on this backwater planet.

_I knew it. Nairua, when this is over, I am going to visit you just to say I told you so. There's no way I could ever love this idiot._

* * *

Carth groaned as he came to, and sat up. He was in a hospital, if the sharp smell of disinfectant and kolto, and the blinding white that was everywhere was any indication. And judging by the rather large lump on the base of his skull and the throbbing headache he had to go with it, he'd been hit pretty hard. He grimaced as he tenderly fingered the bruised flesh, and looked up as a doctor appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, good, you're awake." He said, walking over to Carth's bed. "I'm Doctor Zelka Forn. Your friend brought you in last night. She said you had been involved in a fight and while she escaped unharmed you managed to get hit pretty hard on the back of your head. I was going to heal the bruise up completely, but she told me to do the bare minimum as you needed the pain. Don't know what for, but hey. I'm not going to argue with an obviously dangerous and armed woman who dragged you a good couple of hundred metres from the Cantina to here by herself."

Zelka bustled about while he spoke, doing small tests on Carth to ascertain the ability of his base motor functions. "I wouldn't suggest getting into another fight for a couple of days, simply because whoever it was hit you pretty hard, but other than that you're fine. You'll be free to go as soon as your friend gets here."

Zelka left the room pretty quickly afterwards, and Carth frowned. What happened last night? And what did he mean 'his friend'? Did the man mean Jessel? An image flashed in his mind, peering eyes, a Sith guard, Jessel's furious scowl, a black and white blur, and then nothing. He shook his head to clear the image, but stopped as the motion caused his head to swim.

Footsteps from outside the room had him looking up at the door again, and he almost sighed in relief when it _was_ Jessel who appeared. But her scowl, ferocious in its intensity stopped him, and he knew that if her eyes were visible they would be burning a hole right through his soul.

"Jessel, uh…what happened?" He asked, and almost winced when she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. Her entire presence _screamed_ pissed.

"You decided to get drunk, then let loose your frustrations on me when I was a little later than you would have liked in getting a decent amount of credits. We had an argument, and I knocked you out and brought you here." She explained curtly, and he did wince this time. She sighed and pushed herself off the doorframe, losing the scowl. "Whatever. Let's go."

He gladly complied, scrambling to his feet and catching the pistol she tossed to him from reflex. It was his. "Thanks."

She grunted in response, but looked over her shoulder as she turned to go. "Listen. I don't care about your problems. I don't care that you don't trust me, and that you think I'll betray you at the first possible chance. I honestly couldn't give a rancor's face about you, but we're together in this. We have to at least _cooperate_ to make this happen. But remember this – if you draw a weapon on me again, or even _allude_ to the thought of me betraying Bastila, it won't just be your head that's broken. And next time, I won't bring you to Zelka. I'll wake you up, and you can either drag yourself back here alone, or wait until we've finished doing whatever it was we were doing at the time and we can come as a group. Your choice."

With that she strode out of the room, and Carth followed meekly behind. He _definitely_ didn't want to get on her bad side again.


	3. Chapter 3

Myosotis

_Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear'; a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'_

Author's Note: Still the Redux. Again, just a few fixed up mistakes and stuff. Skip ahead.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I do own Jessel's personality though. Does that count? No? Oh…okay.

* * *

Chapter Three

"What now?"

Jessel glanced at Carth over her shoulder. She had to admit, he looked properly cowed after her display in the Medical Facility, but she needed him standing strong and brave for later. "I'm sending you to the duelling ring, where you can defeat Twitch and possibly Bendak Starkiller. But Bendak only fights in death matches, so if you aren't feeling up to it, don't sweat."

"But Zelka said not to-"

"I know what Zelka said. And here's what I'm saying: You'll be fine against Duncan and Gerlon. Then you can have your rest, and go back to fight Ice and Marl tomorrow. Then you can do Twitch in two days time, and if you're up to it, you can do Bendak the day after that. That should give you enough time. Just don't get hit." She explained, and he sighed, but nodded anyway.

"And what about you? Going to raid the pazaak den?" He asked, and she snorted in amusement.

"Please, they're already wary of me. I'll give them a few more days to get over the way I kicked their collective arses before I go back." She stopped when they reached the door to the Cantina again, and looked at him. "I got invited to a party, where I'm going to get some _very_ important information. Saving life type of information. Okay?"

Despite his misgivings, Carth had to nod. She had some very good points. They still needed more credits, and if she had a lead then she needed to follow it up, even if it included going to a party. She seemed fully devoted to the mission – well, Bastila anyway – so even if he didn't trust her personally, there was nothing to base his paranoia upon.

"All right. I'll see you back at the apartment then?" She flashed him a grin and nodded.

"I'll be a bit late. Knock 'em dead, Flyboy."

* * *

When she said a party, she didn't mean they were going to stand around talking in some small apartment, with a little bit of music and only a few bottles of Tarisian ale to be passed around. No, she was going to a _party_ – mosh pit, heavy beat, and plenty of drinks. Luckily she still had her Force abilities, or she'd be stone drunk right now.

A Sith officer – Yun Genda, the one who had invited her - collapsed beside her on the ground, the alcohol in his body too much for his brain to cope with. She glanced at him and shrugged before grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the pit, dumping him at the top of the stairs that led down into it so he didn't get trampled, before heading back in. _This_ was her idea of a vacation.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, Sith Lords and Ladies! We're onto the last song for the night, then you've all got to find a way to stumble home and sleep all this passion off! This is your AI Song Master, signing off!" The simulated voice called over the system a while later, and the Sith gathered there gave a collective groan, but cheered anyway.

Jessel decided that she'd had enough dancing and alcohol and stumbled out of the pit, ignoring the cries of indignation and the insults she got when she bumped into her fellow party goers. She looked around and focused on Yun, who was still out cold on the ground where she'd left him. She sighed and shook her head before stumbling over, pretending to be drunk as she grabbed his arm and slung it over her shoulders, hoisting him up with an arm around his waist.

Another officer stumbled up to her as she was leaving, and grinned stupidly. "Hey there -hic- , pretty lady. How 'bout you -hic- ditsh thish losher and -hic- come home wiff me, huh? -Hic-." He waggled his eyebrows in what he thought was a suggestive manner, and Jessel scrunched her nose in disgust.

"As if. Get lost, meatbag." She sneered, and he scowled at her.

"Hey now, I-" He reached out to grab her arm, but a sliver of lightning flashed out, hitting his outstretched fingers. He jumped back in surprise, and wiggled his fingers in an attempt to get rid of the pins and needles effect he was feeling. "Hey, no need to get angry."

Jessel shrugged unrepentantly, and hoisted Yun higher. "You asked for it."

She watched with disinterested eyes as the man moved off to find another target, before continuing on her way. She knew the way to Yun's apartment because she had met him there, and then he had led her here. She also knew that in a backpack hazardously thrown into a corner was a set of Sith armour that would most likely fit Carth, which would get them down to the Lower City.

A few of the Sith on patrol obviously recognised Yun, and even fewer recognised her as the human dancer from the previous night when she had danced for the Cantina, but none of them knew her as the girl who had argued with Carth. Her hair was back out of her face, and half tucked underneath itself to make it seem shorter.

"He had a little too much to drink, huh, civilian?" One Trooper said to her, and she grin drunkenly at him.

"Prob'ly, but then -hic- I had a bit to drink too." She slurred out, and he chuckled to her.

"Get going, and tell him I'll see him when he gets back on duty." She nodded to him and saluted as she moved off, pretending to almost fall over at the sudden movement. He laughed at her, and she laughed right back before righting herself and continuing to the North Apartment block. It was a good thing her apartment and Yun's were nowhere near each other, as she didn't want Carth getting wind of this. He would likely snap, and then he'd be right back at Zelka's, this time with a broken arm.

She fumbled a bit when it came to unlocking the door, but easily guessed his combination. It had helped that she had discreetly watched over his shoulder when he had locked it earlier yesterday afternoon.

The sun was just coming up over the horizon when Jessel rolled Yun onto his bed and pulled his boots off. She didn't bother covering him with his blanket, but she did put two headache tablets and a mug of water on his bedside table, and wrote a note of thanks for the good time. Then she grabbed the pack she had brought and left here yesterday, quickly changing into the spare clothes inside. She unpinned her hair, letting it fall back to its normal length, and removed her headband, shoving that into her pack as well.

She moved over to Yun's pack in the corner, where he had thrown it yesterday, and pulled out his uniform. _Yep, close fit. Good enough anyway_. She carefully packed it into her own bag, making sure all hints of silver were hidden away by her clothing on top of it, and swung it onto her back. With only a single backwards glance to make sure Yun was still sound asleep; she strode out of his rooms and into the hallways around it, locking the door behind her. Sure, she just robbed the guy, but she only took one thing. The true thieves would strip him dry.

* * *

Carth jolted awake when the apartment door slid open, and stood up in a hurry when it was Jessel who walked through.

"What the hell were you doing last night?" He demanded, and she smiled at him in amusement.

"At a party. I told you I would be a bit late." She explained.

"A party? You left me at the Cantina at what, three yesterday afternoon? It is now-" he glanced at the chrono on the wall, and noticed the sunlight coming in the windows, "six in the morning! What party would honestly last for _fifteen hours_?"

"A very good one. With plenty of good opportunities and leads." She dumped the bag on a chair, and he glanced at it when it clanked.

"…What's in the bag?" He asked wearily, and she shrugged.

"A headband, some hair pins, and change of clothes that I borrowed from some Twi'leks. Oh, and a stolen Sith uniform." She grinned at him, and he spluttered.

"_You stole a Sith uniform?_ Are you insane?" He demanded, and she shrugged.

"Quite possibly. It _would_ explain a lot of stuff that I got up to actually, but I've never been committed." He sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose, while she stretched her back. "I'm gonna hit the 'fresher, and then I'm going to sleep. Find something to do and wake me up in three hours."

With that, she disappeared into the refresher, sliding the steel door behind her, and he was left alone to brood.

* * *

True to her orders, when exactly three hours had gone past, Carth woke her up. He did it by throwing his pillow at her from the other side of the room.

It appeared to be a very good precaution.

She came up swinging, a small but sharp dagger glinting in her hand and passing through the space where his neck would have been had he been standing next to her. He gulped in appreciation of his foresight at the thought of the dagger sliding through his neck. Jessel woke quickly; blinking away all sleep from her mind as she registered what woke her up, what she did, and where Carth was, and nodded in approval at the pilot. He just grinned weakly back.

"I'm up." She slid out of the bed and pulled her boots on, lacing them up quickly. She pulled her jacket on as well, as it had dried overnight, and closed the window, before turning to Carth. "What have you got to do today?"

"Well, there were those duelling matches against Ice and Marl today, but other than that, nothing." She nodded at him, glancing over what he was wearing. The jacket was great and all, but it wasn't going to cut it up against those two, and his blaster wouldn't do against Marl.

"Right. We are going shopping." She stated, and Carth raised an eyebrow at her. "We need ration packs, a few changes of clothes, and better armour and weapons. That jacket and blaster won't stand up properly against Ice, let alone Marl."

He nodded in acceptance, but then raised another point. "What are we going to buy them with? We've only got the couple of hundred credits you earned before, and that won't buy us everything."

He almost regretted asking when he saw her smile. "Who ever said we were going shopping in stores?"

* * *

"I do _not_ approve of this, one bit." Carth hissed at her, and Jessel rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I got it. I got it the last fifty odd times you've said it. But hey, they won't fight for it, so obviously they don't want it that much." They had just exited yet another apartment building, where they had been systematically going through apartments and taking anything they could use, keep or pawn off for credits. They had a few bits of jewellery, some upgrades for weapons, a few of said weapons themselves, rations, a few bits of clothing that Jessel liked, about a hundred credits more than they started with, and they had even found some armour that Carth could wear in a storage container. Carth was complaining the entire time, and Jessel was getting pretty tired of it. She turned back to him and poked his chest with her finger. "Listen, Carth. You're a good guy. But that's just it. You're a _good_ guy. Me? I'm more of a 'I do what I want, when I want, how I want, and there's nothing you can do about it' kind of person. And see all this stuff?"

She took her pack off her back and opened it, showing the majority of the stuff she had stolen to him. Carth nodded wearily at her, and she smiled grimly. "I saw it, I wanted it, I took it. I didn't hurt anyone while I was doing it, and if they'd been brave enough to stand up against me, I would have just left. I'm evil, but not _that_ evil."

She turned away from him again, and he grumbled. "But why use my pack? I don't want anything to do with this. And what happens when they go to the Sith, Jessel?"

"Because my pack is full, and most of this is actually so we can rescue Bastila, so you should want something to do with it. And the Sith won't do anything, because they believe the same thing that I do. If they weren't willing to fight for it they don't deserve to have it." He was getting edgier every time she compared herself to the Sith, she could tell. _And so he should. After all, what kind of Sith Lord would I be if I didn't have anything in common with the Sith?_

"…I still don't like it." He muttered darkly, and she rolled her eyes. Honestly, there was no pleasing the guy.

"Whatever. Come on, that's enough apartments. Let's go sell some of this stuff so we can buy you what we don't already have." She turned and led the pilot towards Kebla Yurt's Equipment Emporium, ignoring him as her continued to mutter.

* * *

"Hello there. I haven't seen you in my shop before…allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kebla Yurt. Welcome to the Equipment Emporium. You looking to buy some supplies? My shop's the largest one in all of Upper Taris. Best selection on the planet. Whatever you need, I've got. Well, mostly." The dark skinned woman said almost as soon as they stepped in the door, and Carth frowned.

"Mostly? What do you mean by that?" He asked, and Kebla sighed.

"The Sith confiscated all my heavy weapons. And they impounded all my ships and swoop bikes. But I've still got a real nice selection, if you're interested?"

"Sure. But we've got a whole bunch of stuff to sell first, so we won't be buying anything just yet." Jessel said as she pulled the backpack off her shoulders and motioned for Carth to do the same.

"All right, but just so you know, all prices are final – no bargaining here. This isn't a swap meet, okay? I only deal in top notch stuff." Jessel nodded in agreement and poured out everything onto a table nearby. Kebla saw it and whistled her appreciation. "What'd you do, rob a whole bunch of apartments before coming here?"

"Something like that." Jessel said in vague agreement, ignoring Carth's choking sounds in the background. "I don't expect you to buy any of the jewellery and stuff, but most of the weapons are up for sale. If you've got better armour than this stuff, we'll sell it too."

"Well, I've got some Light Battle Armour here that will provide better protection, but it doesn't allow the same movement. It's only two hundred and fifty credits. And if you can scrounge up the money, there's a Sith Sniper Rifle for fifteen hundred credits. Other than that, we've got a few vibroswords and grenades. What do you think?"

"Sure. We'll be back after we've pawned most of this off."

"Well, for the blaster pistols, armour and short swords, that's…two hundred and sixty-two credits. I'll see you later then." Kebla handed over the credits and Jessel smiled, pocketing them quickly.

"Sure thing."

When they were out of earshot, Carth turned to Jessel. "How many credits do we have?"

She kept walking, and for a second he thought she was ignoring him, but she spoke up quickly. "Nine hundred and eighty-four. Not enough for both the armour and rifle, along with everything else."

"But we've still got all that jewellery, right?" He asked her, and she finally turned to him, smirking.

"I thought you 'didn't like it'. Does this mean you've changed your mind?" She teased, and he spluttered.

"No! I just-we need the credits to help Bastila, right? So I was just…acknowledging that it was for a good cause." He explained, and she snorted.

"Right. Whatever."

* * *

"Only two hundred and eight credits for all that jewellery. We're still short." Jessel said, crouching in a small, out of the way alcove as she counted. "_Osik_."

"Hey, we don't really need that Sith rifle, do we?" Carth asked her, and she sighed.

"No, I guess not. You're good enough with two blasters that you could probably do alright in the fights. It's just that…never mind. Whatever. Let's go back to Kebla." She stood up, scooping all the credits into a pouch and tucking it inside her waistband. No need to invite thieves and muggers, even if she could just kill them and take their money instead.

"No, no. I want to hear this." Carth crossed his arms and looked at her. "Why do you want a _Sith_ rifle so badly?"

"Just because they're Sith, doesn't mean all their weapons are completely crap. In fact, a lot of their weapons are actually quite good. You Republic's just don't know the value of admitting that something works better than what you have does, and using it. That rifle is better than your modified blaster, _and_ it can be upgraded." She argued back, and he scoffed. "You see! That's _exactly_ what I'm talking about! You believe that simply because they're Sith and therefore the 'bad guy', their weapons have to be absolutely horrible! And then when things go bad and planets get blown up, it's always 'Someone's selling them weaponry' or 'Someone's giving them the plans'! You never think for a second that _maybe_, just _maybe_ they were smart enough to figure it out on their own, or build their own stuff that is actually _good_!"

"Maybe that's because it almost _is_ always that someone's gone and given the Sith the defence blueprints, and _has_ blown up the planet!" Carth yelled, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Which planet are you from?" She questioned, and he went stiff, before turning away. "Don't you _dare_ ignore me, Carth Onasi. I asked you a _question_, and I expect you to _answer it._"

He was silent for a moment, before growling out "Telos." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. Of course. When Saul Karath joined them, Malak told him to blow up Telos as proof of his loyalty. By the time she had found out about the order, it was too late. Telos had been reduced to acidic rubble; unfit for life, and Malak was gloating over his 'conquest'. She'd taken his jaw for it.

"Carth…" She watched how his shoulders tensed even more at her voice, and sighed. "Let's move on. Bastila isn't going to rescue herself."

He turned to her in disbelief. "Aren't you going to ask me about it? Ask who I lost? Say you're sorry for my loss and shower me with pity?"

"Do you want me to?" She retorted, and he shut his jaw with an audible click. "Didn't think so. And frankly, I don't particularly care that much. Yes, you lost people you loved in that attack. Yes, you feel angry at yourself, and most likely Saul too, and guilty that you couldn't protect them. But if I were to show you pity, it would be false. So would any sympathy I showed you. But I will tell you this. Telos was the reason why Revan took Malak's jaw."

He blinked, then smiled in a grim satisfaction at the thought that even the Sith Lord _Revan_ had been angry over the loss of Telos. But it still didn't excuse anything that Saul did. He doubted anything would until Saul was dead at his feet.

"Let's go." He stated, and Jessel nodded before taking the lead again. Maybe he could work some of his anger out in the duel ring later on.

* * *

"Give it up for…The Mysterious Stranger!" Jessel snorted as she watched Carth raise his hand in victory. _Honestly_, _the Mysterious Stranger_? _I bet Carth came up with that one_.

She met up with him at the Cantina entrance to the duel grounds, and he grinned slightly. "I won."

"Yeah. And I found out that you have a lame name. Seriously, Carth, the Mysterious Stranger?" She snorted with amusement, and Carth rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ajuur came up with it. He said it was good." He defended, but Jessel just laughed at him.

"You let a _Hutt_ pick your name? Force, why don't you just let a two-year-old girl pick it?" She laughed harder and clapped him on the back, while he tried to smile in embarrassment. "Whatever. Come on, you just beat Twitch. This gives us enough money to buy that rifle now, so you can have a decent chance against Bendak."

He scowled at her and crossed his arms. "Why do I have to kill Bendak? We've got plenty of money now, why don't we just leave him?"

"Because, Carth, we are buying that rifle anyway, and if you kill Bendak, we get 700 credits. That's half of the money we spent won back in one fell swoop. And we'll need that money, remember?" She grabbed Carth by the arm and dragged him over to Ajuur, where they collected his winnings, before leading him out of the Cantina.

As they passed him, Bendak stepped forward out of the gloom. "I saw what you did in the ring against Twitch. Good work. But you'll need to do better if you want to defeat me."

Jessel sneered at him. "You go set up the duel. He'll be there."

"Excellent. I'll look forward to taking you after I've killed him. After all: To the winner go the spoils, eh?" He sneered back at her, and Jessel rolled her eyes. Not that the Mandalorian could see it.

"Whatever. Come one, Carth." She pulled him out the door and over to Kebla's shop.

* * *

"Hey Kebla! We're here for that rifle!" She yelled as she stepped into the room, and Kebla looked up at her, smiling.

"Oh, you got the credits then?" Jessel pulled out her pouch and counted out fifteen hundred credits right there in front of her, which made Kebla smile wider. "Well, it's all yours. Treat it well."

Jessel caught the rifle and quickly passed it off to Carth, who fumbled slightly but kept hold of it. "We will. We've got a match with Bendak Starkiller coming up, so we'll need to keep it in top shape anyway."

"Bendak Starkiller?" Kebla's eyes widened, and Jessel smirked.

"Yep. So make sure you bet on Carth here. Or as he's known in the ring…" her voice dropped for dramatic effect and she wiggled her fingers, "The Mysterious Stranger. Oooh!"

Kebla laughed at her antics, and shooed the two away, promising to bet some of the money they had just paid her on the match. Carth was disgruntled at Jessel's teasing, and Jessel was simply amused.

* * *

"Davik says you missed your last payment." The phrase caught the attention of Jessel and Carth as they walked past an alley, and they back-pedalled slightly to look down it. At the end were two thugs ganging up on an old man.

"_Davik doesn't like you missing payments!_"

The man was terrified as he shakily pulled out a fifty credit piece and offered it to them. "Here – I've got fifty credits! A down payment. That should buy me some time, right?

"Sorry, you're out of time. Now it's all or nothing. Davik can't have people not paying his debts!" The thug stepped closer to the old man, who was shaking in his boots.

"But I don't have that much! How can I give you credits I don't have?"

"_That's too bad. Davik's going to want to want to make an example out of you! You're coming with us._" The Aqualish thug moved to grab hold of him, but the man stumbled back and started screaming for help. Beside Jessel, Carth shifted slightly, and she glanced at him before rolling her eyes and stepping further down into the ally.

"Alright, what's going on here?" She asked, and the two thugs turned to glare at her while the man nearly fainted in relief.

"Nothing really, just collecting on a debt this man owes to Davik Kang – the crime Lord." The human thugs said, and she turned to Carth.

"See? No problem. He doesn't need our help." She stated, and Carth looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you insane? No wait – don't answer that. But really, you're just going to let them drag an innocent man off? Not on my watch!" He pulled out his brand new rifle and aimed quickly, firing in quick succession. The thugs retaliated just as quickly and fired back at them. Jessel rolled her eyes and cautiously walked around the edge of the battlefield to get to the man the thugs had been bullying.

He spotted her when she was three feet away from him, and leapt forward, latching onto her jacket. "Please, you have to help me! I don't want to die!"

She rolled her eyes again and growled in annoyance at his blatant weakness, jerking her jacket out of his grasp before turning to the thugs. They were still occupied by Carth, who had taken shelter in an alcove and was taking care not to hit her or the old man. Her vibrosword came out of its sheath with a small _snkt_, and she leapt forward, decapitating the Aqalish. His companion turned to look at her and froze at the way she seemed to tower over him, despite the fact that she was shorter by a few inches. That moment was all Carth needed as he took the man out with a well placed sniper shot to the temple.

The old man was still cowering in fright when she turned back to him, and squeaked when she opened her mouth. She scowled at the noise and spun on her heel, stomping her way out of the alleyway. She stopped beside Carth for a moment as she passed and growled out, "You deal with him. I'm in no mood for pansies."

He nodded in acknowledgement and went to speak to the man while she strode away, heading for the exit for some fresh air. She stood there and breathed deeply for a moment, getting her emotions back in check. She hadn't realised just how much her Jedi emotional training had slipped while she was a Sith Lord, as it took longer for her to wrestle her anger back into its cage than it should have. _Right, that's it. I am meditating when we get back to the apartment…_if_ we get back to the apartment_.

A Sith patrol officer paused beside her as she stood there, and she could feel him studying her. "Everything all right, citizen?"

She looked at him, studying his faceplate which was so shiny she could see herself in it, and nodded. "Yeah, no problems here. Just some thugs beating up an old man, but we dealt with it." She explained, and he chuckled.

"I could tell." He motioned at her face, and she reached up to wipe away the few blood splatters that she only just noticed there. "Thanks for making my job easier. Carry on, citizen."

She nodded as he strode away, and looked back as footsteps come from behind her. Carth appeared from the gloom and asked, "What was that about?"

She shook her head. "Just seeing what was happening. I told him we were just dealing with some thugs. What were they after?"

"The guy apparently borrowed some money from Davik Kang and missed his payment. He was fifty credits short when they came to collect." He explained, and she looked at him expectantly. He sighed. "Yes, I gave him the fifty credits."

"Uh huh. And what happens if we need to buy something, only to realise we're fifty credits short, Carth?" He almost winced at the sickly sweet tone she was using, and wisely kept his mouth shut. "I'll tell you what. You go hungry, and we sell whatever food you have. Because I did _not_ earn all that money only for it to be handed out to any poor beggar that asks for it."

"_You_ earned all that money? Excuse me, but _I_ earned most of that through my duels!" He argued, and she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Maybe so, but I set them up. Therefore I am your agent, and all of the money belongs to me. You're on my pay now, Flyboy." She said, and he growled.

"I am your commanding officer-"

"On the Endar Spire. We're not on the Endar Spire, we're on Taris, which is _my_ domain. You'd have _no_ idea how to operate down here if it wasn't for me, and would likely be patrolling the City as Jango the Trooper right now!" She shot back, and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before admitting defeat.

"Alright. You're right,_ again_." He muttered, and she smirked at him.

"Of course I am. I'm actually smart, unlike you." He opened his mouth to retort, but noticed how her smirk was amused and chuckled.

"Oh, I get it. All right, you got me. So, what now?"

"Well, now we go back to the apartment and get some rest. You have to be ready for tomorrow. If you're good, I'll even feed you." She teased, and he crinkled his nose at the thought. "All jokes aside, we need to be going. It's getting late, and while I have nothing to do, you do some sleep, if only to take your mind off the duel."

"Yeah, alright." He sighed, and Jessel patted his arm in mock sympathy.

"It's alright, Carth! Just think, if you die, I'll be a slave for that Mandalorian, and we'll never find Bastila!" She swooned in horror, and he laughed at her.

"You, a slave? Yeah right. You'd probably kill him yourself, and then find Bastila and escape Taris without my help anyway." She shrugged and grinned up at him.

"Maybe, but this way makes you feel useful. What do you think?"

"I'm all for useful."

She barked a laugh this time, and he found himself grinning back at her. She was as annoying as a Jawa, and evil like a Hutt, but she was pretty good company, all things considered. And he felt that with her in charge of the mission – despite the fact that he outranked her – there was no way they could fail.

* * *

"Are you ready to become mine, slave girl?" Jessel could feel him leering at her from behind the helmet that most Mandalorians wore nowadays, and sneered.

"Not on your life, _hut'uun_." She spat at him, and his arm shot out to catch her throat. It never connected though, as a sharp pain in his arm warned him of the consequences of that action. He settled for glaring at her before spinning on his heel and striding away.

Beside her, Carth looked on worriedly and turned to her for an explanation, but she shook her head. "Don't worry Carth. Just remember: _Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur._"

"What does that mean?" He asked her, and she smiled.

"I'll tell you when you win."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, do we have a special treat for you today! What is happening here today is a true duel, an underground, skirting the rules, flaunting the law Death Match!" The crowd erupted into cheers, and Carth could feel the sweat building up on the back of his neck.

"In this corner, we have Bendak Starkiller! He's cold, he's cruel, he's merciless and his enemies would be shaking in their boots…if any of them were still alive! Ha ha!" He could feel Bendak's glare on him, and the Mandalorian drew his thumb across his neck in a jerking matter. Carth could feel the sweat travel from the back of his neck and up the sides of his face to his forehead.

"And in this corner, we have The Mysterious Stranger, who has dominated the competition! Is he looking for one last fight, or will he go on to be the Dueling Ring Champion? Time – and this match – will tell!" For a fleeting second, Carth panicked. He couldn't do this! Bendak had killed countless people, a lot of them probably more experienced than he was. He was just a pilot of the Republic. Just a Flyboy-

_I'll tell you when you win_.

"Three!"

She believed he could win.

"Two!"

Her, the smuggler, who had made it off an exploding ship without a single scratch.

"One!"

She, who had put him out, who had called him weak, believed he would win.

He would win.

"Begin!"


	4. Chapter 4

Myosotis

_Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear'; a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'_

Author's Note: Still the Redux. Fixed a few things, nothing major. Skip ahead if you want.

Disclaimer: I don't own KotOR I, but I do own any OC's you may see, any storyline that diverges from the original plot, and Jessel's personality.

* * *

Chapter Four

"Begin!"

Bendak sprung into action, jumping to the right as he fired his blaster rapidly. Carth ducked instinctively, barely dodging the carbon-blasts, and aimed his own Sith rifle the moving man. Bendak didn't stop for a moment as he pulled a grenade from his belt and unpinned it before throwing it in Carth's direction and immediately resuming fire.

_Holy-_ He dove to the right and barely made it out of the blast radius in time, and kept moving, just like Bendak was doing. His rifle fired out many shots in quick succession, but the few that were hit were absorbed by an energy shield. _Why didn't we think of that?_ Bendak answered his shots with his own and another grenade – concussion this time. Carth rolled away from the grenade quickly, but not far enough. The grenade exploded, leaving him with a ringing in his ears and slightly blurred vision. _Ah, frack_.

He went for a different approach this time and instead of firing rapidly, Carth flicked a switch on the gun and held the trigger. The rifle started charging energy inside the nozzle while he ran, not aiming anywhere for now, and he continued to dodge Bendak's shots as best he could. His eyes traced Bendak's trajectory, following it and anticipating his next movement. Finally, he heard the energy contained in the nozzle start to whine from the pressure and he made quick calculations, aiming hastily.

When he was certain Bendak could no longer change his direction suddenly, he aimed and released the ball of carbon energy, not bothering to see if he hit his mark before charging another one. He was rewarded by a grunt from Bendak, and when he glanced at the man to check his trajectory again, he was pleased to see the small carbon-scoring on the otherwise spotless yellow Mandalorian armour.

He used this tactic a few more times before switching to grenades and rapid firing, to prevent Bendak from catching on to his ploy. The Mandalorian was scoring a lot more hits on him than he was on the Mandalorian, and his armour was riddled with carbon scoring, and there were a few spots where the blaster bolts had pierced his armour and scored him. Bendak's armour was a little better, but had larger holes in his from the larger bolts of energy Carth had been using.

There were marks scoring the floor and walls of the ring, and he could dimly hear the cheering from the crowd as they watched the Death Match. He was aware of the fact that if he failed, then Jessel would become a slave – for however short a period of time – and the search for Bastila would be put back, giving the Sith more opportunity to find her – and consequently break her.

Bendak suddenly dropped his blaster on the floor and unsheathed a vibroblade from its holster on his hip, charging Carth with a ferocious battle cry. Carth took the time he was given to shoot once more at the man, then drop his own rifle and pull out his own vibrosword. Jessel's vibrosword, to be truthful. She had given it to him with a serious look in her eye, and he had taken it without a word. Now he was glad that he had.

He sidestepped Bendak's initial charge and swung at the unprotected back, but Bendak spun away and lashed out. Carth barely managed to block it in time, and stepped to the side in an attempt to let Bendak's sword slide off his own and unbalance the man. Bendak recognised the attempt for what it was and swooped low, kicking out with his foot. He connected, and Carth hit the ground with a grunt, rolling aside as Bendak's sword hit the ground where his head had been. He rolled backwards into a crouch and lunged left as Bendak swung yet again.

Carth lunged forwards this time, aiming to hit low and hard, but Bendak sidestepped it and swung at Carth's back. Carth spun low and landed on his back again, barely keeping Bendak's sword away from his neck.

"I'm going to enjoy taking your life, and then taking your girl and breaking her." Bendak hissed to him, and Carth glared.

"She is _not-_" he grunted and kicked out, unbalancing Bendak enough to slip out from underneath his sword and stand up, "-my girl. And she will _not_ be broken so easily."

Bendak laughed and charged again, hacking wildly at Carth, who was hard pressed to keep up with the more experienced swordsman. "Anyone can be broken, _di'kut_. You just have to find their weakness!"

Carth glared at him as he ducked under a swipe and spun right, swinging his own sword back at the other man. Bendak dodged again, still chuckling. "Ah yes. I think I'll make her dress in one of those Twi'lek outfits and dance for me. And maybe I should make her clean my armour in it too. Or maybe even _naked_. What do you think _di'kut_?"

Carth growled at the man. "I think you should shut up and let me hit you!"

He yelled a battle cry, and Bendak froze for only a second. But that second was all Carth needed. His vibrosword slid into the Mandalorian's stomach, leaving the man staring at Carth in shock. Carth was breathing heavily, partly form exertion, and partly from anger. Bendak whispered a single word as he collapsed to the floor.

"_Jetii._"

Carth retrieved Jessel's blade from the Mandalorian's stomach, suddenly feeling how tired and abused he felt. It had been a tough battle, and he was ready to collapse in bed. He raised his arm wearily as the announcer spoke up, hearing but not listening to the crowd's cheers.

* * *

Back in the duelling anteroom, Jessel stepped back from the monitor, smirking triumphantly. _Perhaps there is hope in you yet, Republic._

* * *

"_Good, good. You make people happy, they bet much money. Here is your share. You now king of ring, top dog. But now no one will fight you. Downside, no?"_ Ajuur chortled to himself as he handed a pouch of credits over to Jessel, and she smirked at him.

"Maybe for you, but the Mysterious Stranger has bigger fish to fry now." She stated as she tucked the money in her pocket and turned back to Carth, who was standing wearily by her side. "Come on, Flyboy. You look like you could use a good bath and bed."

He groaned at the thought of said amenities and staggered towards the exit, Jessel following close behind, laughing.

Kebla was standing by the front of her shop when they walked past, and she grinned at the two companions. "Thanks for that. I made a killing off your match by betting on your man. At first I thought he wasn't gonna cut it, then he pulled through. It was a great match!"

Jessel smiled at the woman and waved her hand. "He's tougher than people give him credit. Including himself for that matter."

"So it seems. But it also seems he's falling asleep on his feet. Or at least, resting his eyes." Kebla pointed at the man in question as he wavered slightly on his feet, and Jessel laughed.

"Maybe not that much tougher. Seriously, Flyboy, you couldn't even stay awake after one fight?" She teased, and he glared half-heartedly at her.

"It went for ages, and I had to use a sword, which I'm not used to." He defended, and she chuckled.

"It went for fifteen minutes at the most, and only half of it was sword work." She stated, and he grumbled. _Mind you, if I'm right in my suspicions then you have a good reason to be tired._ "Come on, let's get back to the apartment. Bye Kebla."

She waved goodbye and led Carth back to the apartment, where she almost undressed him herself to get him out of his current clothes and into the refresher. He would need the warmth of the water setting to sooth his muscles, and then he'd need to stretch them out to prevent cramping. He was right; he wasn't used to sword work, so his muscles weren't as developed as they could be, and therefore were going to be sorer.

It was different being the one to make sure her companion treated his body right, she mused. It was always Malak who had bugged her into stretching her body out after practise before.

* * *

Carth woke later that day, fully replenished and without the soreness that he'd half expected. He vaguely remembered using the refresher's water setting, and stretching out a few muscles, but nothing else.

"You're up, then?" Jessel appeared in his peripheral vision, and he sat up, noticing as the blanket fell away that he was dressed only in a loose pair of pants. He could see evidence of where she'd been tinkering with her sword while he was sleeping, and his rifle was sitting to the side, freshly polished.

"Yeah. How long was I out?" He asked, and she waved her hand at the wall chrono.

"Oh, a few hours at most. I only had enough time to upgrade your rifle a bit and completely clean it, and get started on my sword. You did a real number on the nozzle from those power shots, you know." She explained, and he nodded.

"I figured I would. I was holding them a bit too long as I aimed." He nodded, and swung his legs from under the blanket. "You owe me a translation."

"Hm?" She looked at him, and he elaborated.

"For that phrase you told me. You said you'd explain what it meant when I won." She nodded and smiled, looking at the wall just behind his ear.

"It means 'Today is a good day for someone else to die'. It's a Mandalorian saying."

He paused at that, before shaking his head. "Why aren't I sore?"

"I made you use the 'fresher and do some stretches before you went to sleep. Now come on, we've got a lot to do today. I need you to put this on." She threw a silver and black bundle at him, and he looked at it suspiciously when he caught it.

"The Sith armour? Why?" He asked, and she gave him a bemused smile.

"I know a lot has happened, but it's only been three days since I told you the plan Carth." She sat back down at the lounge table and continued working on her sword. "You dress up as a Sith, I pretend to be a mercenary type person under your command, and we get past the soldier guarding the elevator down into the Lower levels. It's a pretty easy plan. But I need you to try that on to see if we have to make any adjustments to it."

He scowled at the thought of dressing up as the enemy – _had it really only been three days?_ – but pulled on the uniform anyway. It was surprisingly comfortable for being made almost entirely out of metal plates and a thick black padding protected his skin from being pinched. Jessel walked around him, taking in the look and nodding appreciatively.

"Not bad. It strangely suits you. Now come on, the helmet too." His scowl deepened as he pulled the helmet on, and suddenly he was looking through tinted flexiglass at the apartment around him. He heard Jessel mutter softly to herself, the sound not muted at all, and turned to look at her. "Not bad at all, Republic. It's a good fit – you and Yun were either the same size, or he was wearing a suit that was either too big or too small."

"Yun?" He turned to talk to her, and winced when his voice came out sounding metallic. She nodded absently at him.

"Yeah, Yun Genda. He was the guy I stole the uniform off. Come on, let's go down. The sooner we get it over and done with, the less time you have to spend in that uniform, even though I find it classy." He sighed in relief at the thought of getting down there quickly so he could get out of the uniform sooner, and missed part of her next sentence, but picked up the last half. "…those uniforms were a stroke of brilliance."

"What?" He asked her, and she waved a hand at him.

"Nothing. Just remembering old times." He narrowed his eyes at her, his paranoia tingling, but she assembled her sword quickly and strapped it to her belt again, speaking up. "Let's go, Republic."

When she made no signal of movement, he looked at her in confusion. She sighed and he could almost feel her eyes roll.

"After you, Commander." She said, and he grinned in embarrassment, before leading the way out of the apartment and to the elevator, trying to ignore the way the Aliens they lived around cringed at the sight of him, shooting pitying looks at Jessel. If she noticed, she hid it pretty well. Or they simply didn't affect her.

* * *

"Another patrol going down to the Lower City, huh? I'd let you through, but isn't your group a little…small?" The guard asked, and Carth stiffened. It was true that most patrols were more than two people – a trooper and a mercenary – but they hadn't expected the guard to refuse to let them through.

Jessel saw him stiffen and rolled her eyes. If that wasn't going to give them away, then he might as well walk up to them and declare his love for the Republic then and there.

"Calm down, Commander. Let me deal with this." She pulled on all the haughtiness and scorn she had learned as a Sith Lord and poured them into her voice as she somehow managed to convey that she was looking down her nose at him while staring up from behind her fringe. "We are very busy people, and you do _not_ want to get in our way. Get out of our way, _now_, or I will report you to your superiors, and suggest…alternative…means of discipline."

The effect was instantaneous. The elevator guard snapped to attention and saluted her as he opened the elevator, not loosing the salute even as they marched into the elevator, and the door slid shut behind them. As soon as they were inside, Jessel lost her act and tossed her pack to Carth.

"There's a change of clothes in there, use the pack to keep the uniform hidden. We don't want to run into any _real_ Sith patrols down here, only for them to find out that we stole their uniforms." She ordered, and Carth nodded in acquiescence, quickly stripping down and pulling on the plain clothing he found in there. His jacket was nowhere in sight.

"Where's my jacket?" He asked her, and she looked at him.

"That thing is like a beacon. Anyone who sees you down there and then sees you in the Upper levels will instantly know that you are not meant to be there. Even I forewent my jacket this time." He hadn't noticed before, but she was wearing tight black clothing meant to emphasise certain…assets…and distract the opponents, giving her the upper hand. She wore it like a second skin, as though she'd be doing it all her life, instead of for the last ten minutes.

His outfit, on the other hand, was much like the standard, low rating bounty hunter's outfit – a loose white shirt, a black vest, tan pants and black boots wit a wide belt and holster. Nothing to identify him as anything special other than the gun he held, and anyone with a decent amount of credits could buy one of them.

"You've really thought about this, haven't you?" He asked, and she snorted.

"Of course. I've been hiding my real identity for a few years now. It was only a chance encounter and the untimely betrayal of my protégé that resulted in my capture. Even then the Republic never got my real name." She explained. His paranoia kicked into overdrive at this, and his hand rested casually on his rifle.

"What is your real name then?" He asked, forcing the casual tone that had been there before through. She looked at him for a few moments before sighing.

"I don't know my real last name, as I was taken away from my family at a young age, and you are not ready to hear my first. Ask Bastila. She knows. She's the one who captured me after all."

Carth's mind whirled in a thousand directions at once as he tried to come to terms with this new information. Jessel – who's name wasn't really Jessel Nidalas but something else entirely – had supposedly been a smuggler. So it made sense that she would have been hiding her real identity, to avoid being caught. She was taken from her family at a young age – slavery or kidnapping is prominent on the Outer Rim, so that part could be true as well. But why did Bastila know her name? Why was Bastila the one to capture her? He hadn't heard anything about it. The only person he'd heard about was Revan, but Revan had died when his ship was attacked by his Apprentice, Malak. Plus, Revan was a guy, so it obviously couldn't have been Jessel. And there's no way that Jessel was faking her…_appearance_, so to speak. Why did she believe he wasn't ready to know her name?

Jessel watched him out of the corner of her eye as he thought, watching the conflicting emotions warring across his face. She hadn't lied to yet once, and yet he was finding it so confusing and difficult. True, she had changed some words around and described a few terms vaguely, but surely it wasn't that hard? Apparently it was.

The elevator ground to a halt and _bing_ed at the two companions, interrupting their respective thoughts as the doors slid open.

Right onto a fire fight.

* * *

Carth cursed at he dodged another blaster shot.

"Who do we shoot at?" He yelled to Jessel, and she shrugged as she tilted her head, allowing another shot to whiz past her ear.

"Whoever shoots at you first. You have a fifty-fifty chance of hitting the bad guys, and in the end, they're all swoop gang members." She stated, and he scowled at her. "What? It's true. And it's not like I could care less – they can't hit me and I don't have a gun to shoot them with."

He shook his head and dodged another bolt, shooting back at the person who had shot at him. The Rodian hissed at him and shot back ferociously, and Carth found himself occupied by the scaly alien.

Behind him, Jessel sighed. He really couldn't do anything without her. _And to think, he showed so much potential before_. She unsheathed her sword and ran at a Human wearing a red and black jacket over a combat suit, dispatching him quickly. She moved swiftly, killing the rest quickly and turned to see Carth _finally_ kill the Rodian. He glanced around and realised that all the others had been killed while he was occupied, and spied Jessel sheathing her blade.

"I thought you couldn't care less?" He asked her, and she shrugged.

"Normally that's true, but you were being so weak that I just had to show you how it's done. In the time it took you to kill one Rodian, I killed two humans, three Weequays, a Rodian and a Trandoshan." She explained, and he scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Let's go."

She led the way around the corner, and into a Cantina that was blaring out music with a heavy beat. The Bouncer looked at them warily, but didn't do anything to stop them as they entered.

Carth was blasted by the music as soon as he stepped in the doorway, which was too loud for his taste, and too heavy, with the beat thumping in his eardrums and blocking out almost all other sounds. He glanced at Jessel to see how she was reacting to the noise level, but she showed no sign of being affected. In fact, she was slightly nodded her head to the music as she weaved her way through the crowds and into a small table near the bar.

As he slid into the chair, Carth shot her a look; clearly asking why they had chosen a table so open. Jessel smirked at him before answering.

"It's to show the people around us that we are strong, and have nothing they would want." She explained, shouting slightly so he could hear. "If we'd sat in the back, it would have told everyone else that we're either weak, or we have information that they could use."

He nodded in acceptance at her logic, and settled back into the chair a little more comfortably. His head was starting to hurt from the noise level, the collective mess of heavy beats, raucous laughter and shouted conversations blending together to create a killer headache for him. Jessel looked at him and smiled, and he could see her amusement at his inability to concentrate properly through the sound.

"How do you stand it?" He asked her, and she shrugged.

"You get used to it after a while." Ah, right. She had been a smuggler, so places like this were probably the norm for her.

A waitress appeared next to them, and Jessel ordered two drinks of something that he couldn't quite make out. The girl disappeared quickly, deftly avoiding the wandering hands of an older male as she passed him, and brought back their drinks soon after. Jessel handed him a glass of the suspicious red liquid that seemed to bubble as it sat there on the tabletop, and raised her own glass to him.

"Cheers, Carth. We've gotten this far." She toasted him and knocked back half the glass in one go before putting it down to watch him. He raised the glass to his nose and took a precautionary sniff that revealed nothing other than a drukload of alcohol in the beverage. He took a small sip, only to splutter at the taste and the burning sensation it sent down the back of his throat, and Jessel roared in laughter.

He glared at her as he put down his glass and gestured at it. "What the hell is that, Gundark blood?"

Jessel snorted at him and raised her own glass, taking another mouthful. "Hardly. That, Carth, is known as a Bloody Rancor. Powerful stuff, but it gets rid of the nerves real quick. And any other motor functions you happen to have."

She smirked at him again as she drank down the rest of her glass before gesturing to his. "You gonna drink that?"

He shook his head, and she took it, this time knocking it back in one go. The waitress appeared with another one for her and a glass of what appeared to be normal Tarisian ale, which he gladly accepted. "What are we doing in here?"

"Establishing a reputation. I'm going to check out the Bounty Hunter's office over there, while you hang around and look tough and imposing until I come back. That'll show that we're partners, tough, and, if we get the Bounties done pretty quickly, willing to work. People will be more likely to speak when we ask questions after we've done that." She explained, and after polishing her Bloody Rancor off, stood up. Carth nodded in acquiescence and she wandered off, somehow making it seem as though the entire Cantina was beneath her without provoking anyone.

He sat there for a few more minutes, before a teenager sidled up to his table, and leant against the table, letting her shirt hang low. He swallowed and steadily kept his eyes on her face, while she smiled sensually at him.

"Hey there. I saw your partner head off, and thought, why is such a hunk like you hanging around a low rate girl like her?" She started, and he raised an eyebrow. Obviously the girl didn't know Jessel. "So then I thought, why don't I just come over here, and maybe…_alleviate_…you of your burden. I mean, it must be so hard, wandering around the Lower City with such an obviously _poor_ person. I'll bet she can't even swing that sword properly, can she?"

She leant closer to Carth, and he almost snorted at her. Honestly, _Jessel_ not being able to swing a sword properly? That was like saying a Rancor couldn't grunt. "Sorry kid, not interested."

The girl straightened suddenly, anger blaring in her eyes. "_Not interested_? Do you know who I am? I am Ailesa Naal!"

"Never heard of you." He waved dismissively at her, and she bristled before stepping closer and leaning down again.

"I am the _Princess_ of the Lower City!" She hissed, and Carth almost froze. Princess? _She could do a lot of damage_. But a snort from behind Ailesa drew their attention, and the teenager turned to see Jessel standing there.

"And I'm the mother-fracking Dark Lord Revan. Who gives a flying Mynock?" Jessel stated and crossed her arms, staring at Ailesa. Her hair still covered her face, but Carth could feel the disinterested glare Jessel was sending the 'Princess', who froze before turning to look at the both of them.

"You'll regret this." She hissed, but Jessel snorted again.

"More likely you'll end up dead for trying to cross us. And here's the catch: this is the Lower City, no one will give a damn." Ailesa screamed slightly in frustration at not getting what she wanted, before spinning on her heel in stomping off, ignoring the patrons she knocked into on her way out.

Jessel watched her go dispassionately before sliding back into the seat across from Carth. "Another notch on the belt."

"What?" He asked, confused, and she smirked at him before jerking her thumb in the direction of the other patrons. They were staring at the duo warily, some even going so far as to skirt around their table. "Why are they doing that?"

"Little Miss Princess obviously has a lot of weight to throw around, so the fact that we stood up to her means that we're either very stupid, or very good. Either way, no one wants to associate with us in fear that we might bring down Ailesa's wrath on them, but we can buy information for cheaper since they'll be more eager to tell us and go." She explained, and raised her hand. The waitress came back with another Bloody Rancor, and Carth recoiled in disgust.

"How can you even drink those things? And shouldn't you be worried about getting drunk? We've got a job to do."

Jessel snorted again. "You get used to it, I have a high tolerance, and we actually have multiple 'jobs' to do. Come on, it'll take a few hours for the Princess to get back to her 'castle', and we can kill a few people and find some more information between now and then. By the way," She tossed him a pouch of credits, "That's your reward for killing Bendak in the ring. It appeared that there was a bounty on him too, but no one was game enough to take it."

He looked inside, and sure enough there were about three hundred credits in there. That made his fight against Bendak worth a thousand credits, which was almost his rifle bought back, and would help when it came to buying armour and supplies for Bastila. Speaking of armour, "Shouldn't we buy you a suit of armour, Jessel? That outfit can't be very protective."

"No. I don't like armour – it's too restrictive. And despite what I may have worn a while ago, I find robes to be very restrictive as well. I prefer clothes that fit like a second skin because you don't have to account for whether it's going to get in your way when you fight." She explained, and stood up again. "Come on; let's go collect that bounty on Selven. Zax says she should be in one of the apartments down here."

He stood up as well and followed her out. As they neared the door, a teenaged voice spoke up.

"I told you to leave me alone – so give me some space, Bug-eye! Your breath smells like Bantha poodoo." A blue Twi'lek dressed in greys and blacks was facing off against three Rodians near the entrance.

"_Little girl should not be in bar. This no place for little girl. If little girl smart, she run away home now._" The middle Rodian said. Carth moved to step into the argument, but Jessel held her hand up and motioned for him to stay where he was.

"Why aren't we doing anything? She's just a kid, she'll be mincemeat!" He hissed, but Jessel shook her head.

"If she has survived this long down here, then she has to have either amazing fighting skills, or a tough buddy to back her up. Let it play out. If something happens, then we'll step in." She explained, and he grumbled a bit before backing down.

"Who you calling little girl, Chuba-face?" The Twi'lek demanded, and the Rodian bristled.

"_Little girl need lesson in manners!"_

"Just a sec, boys. Zaalbar…a little help here? I need you to rip the legs off some insects." She looked over her shoulder at a Wookie, and Jessel smiled grimly.

"See? She's got it handled."

"_Mission – I'm busy. They just brought my food!"_ The Wookie moaned, and Mission rolled her eyes.

"Quit complaining…you can finish eating later. Beside, you need the exercise so get over here."

The Rodians took a collective step back as Zaalbar stood up and stomped over to the confrontation, looming over all the participants. "_We no want trouble with Wookie. Our problem with you, little girl!"_

"You got a problem with me, then you got a problem with Big Z. So unless you want to take on my furry friend, I suggest you greenies hop out of here." She made a shooing motion with her hands, and the Rodians turned to leave.

"_Little girl lucky she has big friend._" The middle one said as a parting shot, and they disappeared into the gloomy streets beyond. Jessel turned to Carth as he rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Okay, fine. She was fine." He said, and she smirked at him.

"Told you. Come on, maybe she'll be able to give us some information." Jessel led the way to the young Twi'lek, who lit up as she spotted them

"Hey, I don't recognise you and I know pretty much everyone in the Lower City. You must be new down here, which I guess makes me and Big Z your official welcoming committee!" She said excitedly, Jessel chuckled.

"Not quite. There was the fire fight literally right outside the elevator…" She trailed off and looked at Carth, who grimaced.

"The Bloody Rancor's." He supplied, and she smirked at him.

"And Ailesa Naal. You can't forget her." He groaned, and muttered 'I wish I could', while Jessel continued. "And then we saw your little showdown with those Rodians. So, not quite. But you are the first friendly faces we've seen that didn't turn nasty."

"Oh, well…okay." She fidgeted before remembering what she was going to say. "Well anyway, my name's Mission Vao and this big Wookie is my best friend, Zaalbar. I'd offer to give you a tour around the Lower City, but the streets around here aren't that safe. But if there's anything else you need…"

"Well actually, we have some questions we'd like to ask you." Jessel offered, and Mission brightened almost instantaneously.

"You came to the right person! I've got information on Davik, the Lower City Gangs, even that bounty hunter Calo Nord!" She explained, and Jessel nodded in thought.

"What do you know about Davik?" Carth asked, and the Twi'lek turned to him.

""Davik's part of the intergalactic crime syndicate, but everyone around here knows that. Though I hear he's got a new ship for his smuggling operations – the Ebon hawk. I don't know much about space travel, but I hear that ship's fast enough to break the Sith blockade. Of course," She shrugged slightly, "this is all just second hand rumour."

"A ship that fast, huh?" Jessel murmured, and Carth glanced at her.

"Where would he keep it?"

"If Davik does have a ship that fast, he's got it locked up on his estate. Nobody gets in there, except the people working for Davik and the Exchange."

Jessel sighed. "So that option's out. Tell me about the Lower City gangs."

"There's only two you really need to worry about down here – the Black Vulkars and the Hidden Beks. Sometimes Zaalbar and I hang out at the Bek base. The Beks are led by Gadon Thek – he's a good guy. Lost his sight in a swoop accident a few years ago, but even blind he's a good leader. Not like that traitor Brejik! Before Brejik took over the Vulkars, he was a Bek. Gadon considered that ungrateful space slug his adopted son!" Mission was ranting now, and Jessel looked at her with amusement. She caught the look, and turned a pale purple in embarrassment. "Sorry. It's just that thinking about Brejik always gets me angry."

"Oh, that's all right." Jessel flapped her hand dismissively. "Carth here is the same. You simply mention Sith and betrayal to him and he'll go off on a tangent if you don't stop him."

"That's not fair, Jessel. I have a valid reason!" he stated hotly, and she smirked.

"Yes, because Saul really deserves to be dismembered limb by limb, cut into tiny pieces and thrown to the Firaxan sharks on Manaan. Why don't you just shoot him in the head and be done with it? Honestly, you're as bad as my old friend from the Mandalorian Wars." She grinned at him then turned back to Mission. "Well, I guess that's enough information for now. We'll be going then. We've got some bounties to collect, but I'll see if we can't swing by the Hidden Beks and visit."

"You're going? Yeah, this dive is pretty boring. No action around here. Come on, Big Z, let's go." She motioned to the Wookie, who whined at her from his seat.

"_But I haven't finished eating!_"

"Can't you think about something besides your stomach for five minutes?" She asked, exasperated. "Come on – we'll go see if there's anything good to eat at the Bek base."

The group of four walked to the door together, but split up soon after, with Mission and Zaalbar going left and Carth and Jessel going right.

* * *

"So we've killed Selven and Matrik, looted all of the apartments and Carth's off collecting all bounties we've completed. What do we do now?" Jessel asked herself, and a familiar voice answered.

"You die for insulting me." Ailesa appeared out of the gloom, followed by a group of mercenaries, all brandishing their weapons menacingly. "Where's my new toy? I was looking forward to making him watch me kill you for rejecting me."

Jessel blinked and tilted her head. "Didn't you just hear me? He's off collecting bounties. _But…_this gives me the opportunity to really let loose. I've been itching for a fight like this ever since I woke up on Manaan."

She grinned sadistically, and one of the mercenaries shouted at her. "You think you can take us? Hah! We'll turn you into Bantha fodder!"

The other mercenaries yelled in agreement, and Ailesa grinned back. "There's no way you can win. Tell you what, since I'm in such a good mood from the thought of killing you, I'll let you have the first move. What do you say?"

Jessel's grin merely widened, and she disappeared. The mercenaries looked around in shock, trying to spot her, before she reappeared crouched directly behind Ailesa, her blade out with blood on it.

"Bad move."

Ailesa's eyes widened and she choked suddenly, before her front exploded with blood and she slid apart in two pieces from hip to opposite shoulder. The mercenaries stared in shock at the scene before turning to the grinning woman, fury burning in their eyes.

"You'll pay for that!"

As one they attacked, some leaping at her with their swords drawn and other firing their rifles and blasters with ferocity, not caring if they hit their fellow mercenaries. She grinned wider, and crouched lower to ready herself.

_This_ was her idea of a vacation.

* * *

"Jessel, I-" Carth stopped suddenly. The floor, walls and ceiling of the area he had left Jessel in were covered in blood, and almost a hundred bodies littered the place. Directly in front of him, split in two, was the body of Ailesa Naal, the Princess of the Lower City. "Sithspit!"

He walked as fast as he could without falling over on the slippery floor, trying to see if he could spot Jessel anywhere. The corridor curved around an apartment building, making it hard to see if she was still standing up ahead, or somewhere on the ground, dying. A deep pool of dread welled up in his gut.

_Always too late. Always to late to protect them. First Telos, Morgana and Dustin, then Bastila and the Endar Spire, and now Jessel. I'm always too late._

He stumbled around a corner, almost falling over on the slimy floor, and stopped short at the sight of Jessel standing there. She was facing away from him covered with blood, her hair slick and wet with it, and what was visible of her skin had been dyed a deep crimson, with a few cream spots still discernible. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her, all limbs intact, and she turned slightly. He had a feeling that although he couldn't see her face, she was looking at him.

"About time you got here, Flyboy." She said, and turned fully, grinning widely at him. Her fringe had clumped together slightly and he could see one dark grey, almost black eye shining at him with delight. Though what that delight was for, he couldn't tell. "For a moment there I thought you'd gotten yourself killed."

"_I'd_ gotten myself killed?" He asked incredulously. "What about _you_? How are you still standing?"

She laughed at him, a wild laugh that sent chills down his spine, and walked forwards, flicking the blood off her vibrosword before sheathing it. "I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I haven't felt this good in about a year – ever since I got conscripted."

He stared at her wide eyed, and suddenly realised one of the reasons why they had conscripted her. It didn't matter that she was insane, and most likely completely evil, she was good. In fact, she was more than just _good_…

She was a war machine.

An insane war machine.

And he was deathly afraid of her.


	5. Chapter 5

Myosotis

_Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear'; a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'_

Author's Note: Still the Redux. Fixed somethings, nothing major. Skip ahead if you want.

Disclaimer: I don't own KotOR, or anything Star Wars related really. Though I do have a SW: TCW mug. It came with a free easter egg!

* * *

Chapter Five

"Hey! You can't jus-what happened to you?" The guard in front of the Hidden Beks base stared at Jessel with wide eyes as she took in the massive amounts of blood covering her. Jessel grinned at her.

"I pissed off Ailesa Naal." She stated, and the guard's eyes widened even further.

"Well I-I-what I mean i-is that-" She stuttered, and Jessel waved a hand at her to be quiet.

"Can I see Gadon? I wanted to talk to him. Don't worry; I won't kill anyone unless they attack me first. I'm on vacation after all." She grinned and ignored Carth's spluttering from behind her. If this was a vacation, he'd hate to see what she did when she was working.

"I-I uh…I guess? Just…don't attack them unless they attack you. Please?" The dark skinned woman was a bit paler after the revelation, but Jessel's grin just grew wider.

"Sure." She opened the door, leaving the guard staring after her and Carth as they entered the base. She snapped out of it quickly though, and commed Gadon.

"Uh…there are two people coming in and…uh…one of them-one of them is covered in blood. She-she says that she won't attack anyone if they, uh, they don't attack her first." She stammered, and Zaerdra spoke over the comm. back to her.

"What? What in space possessed you to actually _let them in_? They could be spies, or assassins!" The door guard smiled weakly.

"She uh…she pissed off Ailesa. That's why she's covered in blood." She explained, and the comm. was silent for a few moments. "Uh…Zaerdra?"

"We see her. We will talk about this later, Navi." Zaerdra promised, and Navi nearly fainted in fright. A 'talk' with Zaerdra usually involved a spar, in which you got your arse handed to you while the purple and cream Twi'lek yelled her frustrations at you.

* * *

Jessel's wild grin had dimmed down to a cheerful one, and the look in her only visible eye was merry, as though she had just seen a very comedic holovid. She was still sticky with blood, and more than a few Hidden Beks looked at her in horror as she past by them, almost floating along.

She stepped up to speak to the man who was obviously in charge, due to the fact that he was sitting at a desk. Various datapads surrounded him as he typed away at a computer, but he looked up at the sound of footsteps. A purple and cream Twi'lek was standing beside him, and her eyes wide at the sight of Jessel, while Gadon just looked at her.

"Occular implants?" She asked, and the dark man smiled.

"Yep. It's better than nothing. And might I say, that's a lot of blood?" She grinned at him.

"The smell's a bit much for you, huh?" She asked, and he nodded slightly. "If I can use your 'fresher after we've talked, I'd greatly appreciate it. Blood is fun and all, but it's a bit sticky when it's drying."

"Not a problem. So, what did you want to know about?" He sat back in his chair, looking up at the strange pair in curiosity.

"Do you know anything about the Republic escape pods that crashed into the Undercity?" Carth asked, and Gadon nodded.

"The Sith have been asking around about them too, but you don't look like you're with the Sith. Well," he amended his statement, his eyes resting on Jessel before turning back to Carth, "you don't anyway, and I doubt you'd hang around her if she was. And the only people who the information will possibly harm are the Vulkars, and that's okay in my book. The Vulkars stripped those pods clean within hours after they landed. It's too bad we didn't get there first, as my spies reported that the Vulkars found a female Republic officer named Bastila. We Beks don't believe in slavery, but the Vulkars aren't so picky. They took her prisoner."

Jessel's eyes widened, and a furious glint entered them that had Zaerdra and Gadon shrinking back slightly at its intensity. Carth couldn't see it, but he saw the reaction and glanced curiously at her. "Bastila is a _slave_?"

"I'm afraid so." Gadon nodded, and she hissed. "Normally the Vulkars would take a captured slave and sell them for a nice profit to Davik or an offworld slaver. It's a good thing that a Republic officer is no ordinary catch, so they haven't done that. This works in your favour, but the next part won't. She's too valuable to leave at the ordinary Vulkar base with all the scum that hang out there, so you can't go in guns blazing and rescue her. Brejik will have her hidden away somewhere safe until the big swoop race, which means you'll never find her."

"A swoop race? What does that have to do with anything?" Carth asked, and Gadon smiled grimly.

"I'm afraid your friend has become another pawn in Brejik's game to take over the Lower City gangs. The 'King' of the Lower City doesn't care what happens as long as he gets his taxes and everyone reports to him, which means Brejik can do whatever he wants. He's offered her up as the Vulkars share of the prize in the annual swoop gang race." He explained, and sighed wearily. "By putting up such a valuable prize, Brejik hopes to win the loyalty of some of the smaller gangs. Their numbers will allow him to finally destroy me and my followers."

"So how do we go about rescuing Bastila then? We can't fight all the gangs." Carth said, and Jessel snorted.

"I probably could. But I think the King might get a bit angry with me and send more people after me, and then I'd end up wiping out most of the Lower City. I already killed his daughter and her personal guard." She stated, and Gadon nodded in agreement.

"He might let that slide as she's not his only child, merely the oldest, and she's always been a brat. But if you start killing people left, right and centre, he will send more people after you. Your only _sensible _hope is to somehow win the big season opener of the swoop race." Jessel groaned at this.

"I hate being sensible on purpose. Alright, how do I enter this thing?"

"I'd be willing to sponsor you if you did something for me. My mechanics developed a prototype swoop accelerator, and with it installed in a bike you'd be able to beat any other swoop bike out there. But the Vulkars stole it from us in an attempt to guarantee a victory this year. It's hidden in their base, which is just down the other end of this section of the Lower City."

"So in other words, you want me to go in guns blazing?" She grinned, and he shuddered before shaking his head.

"The front doors are locked tight and only accessible if you have the right codes – which none of us have. But I do know someone who could help you get in the back way – Mission Vao." Zaerdra spoke up for the first time in their presence, shooting an incredulous look at Gadon.

"Mission? You can't be serious! She's just a kid – how's she supposed to help them with this?"

"Mission's explored every step of every back alley in the Lower City. Plus she knows the sewers better than anyone. If anyone can get inside the Vulkar base, it's her." He reprimanded the Twi'lek, and Jessel grinned at her.

"Besides, if you keep trying to stop her from doing what she wants to do, eventually she'll do something she can't handle and then she'll be in space without an envirosuit. Is she still here?"

Gadon shook his head. "She went down to the sewers about an hour ago. And you'll need the proper Sith security papers to get down there. I don't know how Mission does it, but I doubt you could do it too."

"We have a uniform and my awesome acting skills. That got us down past the Upper City guard." Jessel offered, but he shook his head again.

"Won't work. But if you give me your uniform, I'll give you the papers we got off a patrol heading to the Undercity. You won't need a disguise with these things."

She nodded slightly, mulling it over. It _was_ a pretty good swap as far as things went. And if she had the proper papers she wouldn't have to worry about idiots like the one upstairs. "Done."

He smiled at her and took the proffered backpack from Carth, who seemed all too happy at the thought of getting rid of the uniforms, handing a datapad over to them in return. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Just point me in the way of the refresher." He grimaced and pointed down a hallway, and Jessel skipped off happily, whistling a jaunty tune.

Gadon turned to Carth seriously. "How in space did you end up partnering up with her."

Carth grimaced and shrugged his ignorance. "We were the only survivors other than Bastila after the space battle overhead a few days ago, and it seemed logical at the time to pair up. I only just found out _how_ crazy she was a few days ago. Just think – if we hadn't conscripted her, the Sith definitely would have. She doesn't care for the Republic all that much, but she seems to care for Bastila a lot. I think that's the only reason she's still here."

"Ah. I understand. Can I make a suggestion?" Carth nodded, and Gadon stared at him evenly. "Don't ever let Bastila switch sides. If what you say is true, she'll follow her to the Sith without a second thought, skipping and singing 'La La Stardust' all the way."

* * *

When Carth and Jessel stepped out of the Hidden Bek base, they were confronted by a young man wearing fancy armour. The door guard beside them was glancing between the obviously wealthy boy and Jessel, as though she expected Jessel to attack him without any motivation. Jessel raised an eyebrow from behind her fringe that covered both of her eyes again, and looked at the boy.

"Are you Jessel Nidalas?" He asked, and she grinned.

"Yep! Who's asking?"

"On behalf of my father and my younger siblings, as well as for my own benefit, I, Mizak Naal, would like to offer you my gratitude at the way you dealt with my elder sister, Ailesa. She was a nuisance, and was sullying the Naal family name with her actions." He bowed formally, and Jessel blinked. Carth looked at the teen in confusion before realisation dawned on him.

"You're next in line for the Lower City throne, aren't you?" He asked, and Mizak nodded.

"That is correct. And I plan on doing a much better job than my father by hopefully bringing some semblance of order to this level of Taris. We may never be the perfect picture that the Upper City presents, but we shall certainly be better than today. I hope to provide a safe place for families to raise their children, not this rabble that currently inhabits these halls." He explained, and Jessel blinked again.

"Wait, what?" She asked, and Carth sighed.

"He wants to make this place better to live in." He explained to her, and she scowled, opening her mouth to retort. He cut her off though. "If you want help with that, Gadon Thek might be able to provide some assistance. He's a pretty good guy."

Mizak nodded in thanks and smiled at the two in thanks. "I shall take my leave then. Good fortune upon your brow."

"Uh…good fortune upon yours too?" Jessel said, and Mizak walked off, his two guards going with him. Carth and Jessel shared a glance before Jessel snickered. "He's next in line?"

"Apparently so." Carth replied with a bemused smile. But his smile faded as he remembered what Gadon had said, and he watched Jessel suspiciously. If she noticed, she ignored him and waved her hand at the guard in goodbye, leading the way to the Undercity elevator.

They were stopped at a confrontation between a human and two Black Vulkars which was happening in front of an apartment building. The Black Vulkars looked pretty confident, but the human did as well.

"You guys are behind on your payments. What, do you think that just because you're in some gang, you don't have to give Davik his cut?" He asked and they scoffed.

"_I don't see Davik doing anything for his share. We do all the work around here. Davik claims that he's part of the Exchange, but we don't have any proof._" One of the Vulkars said, and the other spoke up quickly.

"_Yeah, let's see the big crime lord come down here and get his money himself!_"

Davik's agent chuckled at the two, who looked distinctly nervous at the sound. "So you want to play this the hard way. I'm fine with that."

He whistled sharply, and a large humanoid stepped out of the gloom. His hair and eyes were silver, and he carried a large Mandalorian heavy repeating blaster in his arms as he walked forward. Mandalorian clan tattoos decorated his shoulders openly, and the two Vulkars stepped back in fright.

"_Oh, hey…Canderous. We didn't know you was working for Davik now."_

"_Yeah, we were just goofing around here. We don't want no trouble with a Mandalorian. Here's Davik's cut."_ The second Vulkars handed over a pouch and took off, his friend following close behind. Canderous looked after them almost wistfully.

"Too bad. I was looking forward to cracking some skulls." He stated, and the human nodded absently as he counted the credits.

"Maybe next time, Canderous. I better get this over to Davik; I'll call you if anyone else falls behind in there payments." He walked off, tucking the money into his pocket and fingering the blaster at his side in precaution.

Canderous sighed, then spotted Jessel and Carth standing off to the side. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just admiring your blaster." Jessel grinned at him, and he raised an eyebrow. If she was Mandalorian, that could have been taken as flirting. "Nice meeting you Canderous."

Jessel led Carth past him, and Canderous raised an eyebrow again at the way Carth glared suspiciously at him before levelling his suspicious look back at Jessel.

"Yeah, whatever." Canderous muttered before walking off in the opposite direction. There was nothing else to do around here, maybe Davik could find something. Oh, how he missed those glory days when the Mandalorians were fighting the Republic, and winning.

* * *

Another elevator ride, and the elevator ground to halt with a sickening screech, the doors scraping open onto the dingy Undercity. Jessel crinkled her nose when she stepped out into the dimly lit area, staring at the earth that squelched slightly beneath her feet as she walked.

"People actually live here?" She asked Carth, who stepped out behind her. He pursed is lips grimly and nodded. "Gross. If I was ruler of the galaxy right now, I'd demolish this entire city and rebuild it, just so that everyone would be equal."

He looked at her strangely, but she ignored him in to gaze at the two males who ran up to them.

"This is our elevator!" The first one said. Jessel almost winced at the way his voice grated against her ears, and actually did wince when the second spoke.

"Yeah, and it'll cost you! Five credits!" He demanded, and his brother was quick to follow up.

"Yeah, five credits!" They stood there, looking at the two, seemingly not noticing the fact that they were armed and potentially dangerous. Jessel's mouth twitched into a scowl for a second before smoothing out, showing no emotions on the bottom half of her face. Inwardly, Carth was impressed at the impression she gave. There was no way for them to look into her eyes and see if any emotion she couldn't control was there, so they had no idea if she was feeling generous or just plain annoyed.

"No." She stated, and the men almost fell over in surprise, before the right one stamped his foot like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"But it's our elevator, so you have to pay!" He demanded, oblivious to the potential danger he was getting into.

"I don't care. I'm not paying for a public service, so go scrounge money somewhere else, mudlarks." Her voice was icy, and she fingered the hilt of her sword. They finally noticed how dangerous she looked, and froze in terror.

"Quick my brother! Flee before this ones wrath!" The left one squeaked, and he turned tail, his brother close behind. Carth turned to her, scowling slightly.

"What did you do that for? They only wanted a few credits!" He demanded, and she turned her icy face on him. He could feel the chilly glare coming from behind her fringe, and she scowled at him this time.

"It is dark, damp, and it smells down here. We are also not walking entirely on mud, and I am using the refresher at the Beks base for a long time on the water setting when we get back, before we go home. These boots will also be burned as soon as we get off Taris." She explained to him, and he looked down.

"It doesn't look like anything but mud." He stated, and she snorted.

"Mud is not the only brown, squishy and slightly damp thing around. This place _is_ practically the sewers of Taris after all. Besides which, mud is bad enough. I hate mud." She stalked off, leading the way to a tent where a man was sitting on a stool made from what was left of a plasteel cylinder.

Carth looked down at his boots once more and shivered. He was going to give these a good clean when they got to the Bek base as well.

"Ah, upworlder. We do not see many of your kind around here, and rarely do they stop to talk. My name is Gendar, and I am the leader of this village. Why have you come to think dark and sunless place? Is there something you need of us? I will help you any way I can." Gendar stated as Jessel stopped in front of him. Jessel smiled tightly at him.

"Have you seen a blue Twi'lek called Mission Vao? We were told that she could help us get into somewhere important." She asked, and he nodded.

"Often we have seen this Twi'lek, accompanied by her Wookie friend. She likes to explore the sewers to the south of here. We saw her just recently in fact, heading down there. Is there anything else?"

"No. I'll see you later than." She led Carth away again, heading towards the large iron gates that provided the only entrance and exit from the camp. A woman was standing at it, clutching the mesh desperately.

"Run, Hendar, run!" She screamed, and Jessel saw the man running out of the gloom, followed closely by large bipedal creatures. They snarled and snapped at him, showing their large jaws full of sharp teeth as they tried to catch the man, and the woman turned to the guard. "Please, you have to help him! Open the gates so he can get through!"

The gate guard shook his head, indecision and worry marring his features. "I can't do that – they'll kill us all!"

The woman moaned in desperation before spotting Jessel and Carth standing to the side and running over to them. "Please, you have to help me – Hendar, my husband is being chased by those monsters! He'll die if you don't help him!"

Jessel looked down at the older woman before looking at Carth, who shrugged. He was of no help then. She looked at the creatures chasing Hendar, who had almost reached the gate and was yelling for it to be opened, waving his arms desperately. In his hand, a battered Force Pike flickered as its charge grew low. The creatures were pale grey, almost white and looked as though someone had crossed humans with a swamp slug, giving them rows of sharp teeth and slimy skin.

She grimaced in distaste before turning back to the gate guard. "Open the gate."

He looked at her as though she was crazy, but complied, and barely gave them enough time to run through before slamming it shut behind them. Hendar ran up to them and almost collapsed with exhaustion and relief at the thought of help.

"Thank you-" He started, but Jessel cut him off by unsheathing her sword.

"Don't thank us now. You haven't survived yet." She told him, and he looked at her in puzzlement. That confusion was quickly replaced with fear and a strange determination as the creatures caught up and launched themselves at the waiting party.

Carth started shooting as soon as they were in range, standing slightly behind Jessel so he wouldn't get in the way of any charges she made. He also kept an eye out for any more of the fiends in case they decided to sneak up on them. Jessel moved to meet the first fiend quickly, dodging his claws and getting in close to decapitate it. Hendar held his pike at the ready, ready to jump in should he be needed, but staying back to reserve what little strength he had left.

More of the creatures surrounded Jessel, and she actually found herself hard pressed to dodge all of the nasty looking claws and teeth that swung and snapped at her in rapid succession. She doubted she would have been able to dodge so well if she hadn't been trained as a Jedi for years, and then gone on to become the Sith Lord.

Hendar watched in awe as Jessel bent over backwards, incredibly low, and then did a spin that blocked the claws and teeth from touching her, landing in a crouch for a millisecond before swerving out of the way of another claw. One of the creatures received a nasty cut through its head, and it collapsed, only to be replaced by another one.

"What are you doing?" Carth hissed at him, and Hendar jerked around to look at him in shock. "She needs your help – she can't keep that up forever! _Do_ something!"

Hendar gulped, then steeled his nerves and pulled on every once of training he had gotten in his pike, charging a rakghoul that was milling around the contorting woman. He stabbed it through the head, killed it instantly, and used its body to knock another one away. He hit yet another in the head, stunning it for a second before it turned on him, snarling, only for a red blaster bolt to nail it right in the forehead. He swung his pike, aware of the way the charge was getting dimmer with every passing moment, desperate to make each second count against the fiends.

With a few more blaster shots, and a final swing from Jessel's vibrosword, the last fiend dropped. Jessel wiped the sweat from her forehead and grinned. Even the mercenaries that Ailesa had brought hadn't given her so much of a workout! _But then, they were human, stupid, slow, and I was able to use the Force. These were much deadlier, and I was limited by the fact that using the Force here, in front of all these witnesses, would be a very bad idea._

Behind the tired trio, the gate slid open, and Hendar's wife ran out to hug the man. The gate guard was watching them in awe, and Jessel shared a triumphant grin with Carth, who was looking suitably impressed at her abilities. _But then, not many people could fight off that many of these things when surrounded, with nothing but a vibroblade, a single rifle and an untrained fighter to back them up. How many did we fight?_

"Hendar, you're hurt!" The gasp brought her out of her thoughts, and she looked at the three scratches across Hendar's side. They looked angry, with a few red tendrils leading away from it. "Oh, Hendar…"

Jessel looked on, puzzled at the sudden change of tone the statement had brought to his wife's face, and even the gate guard looked sad. "It's alright, Hester. I'll be fine. I'll just…stay out of the village so I don't hurt anyone."

Jessel stepped forward. "Why is such a bad thing that he's hurt? It's only a scratch…"

The villagers looked at her in shock, before Hester's face softened in understanding. "He was hurt by a rakghoul, which means that unless he is treated with a serum, he will turn into one. But only the Sith have the serum, and they won't let us use it."

Jessel frowned in consternation. Hendar had impressed her with his willingness to fight and help her out when she was in trouble, despite being tired and having next to no skill with the pike he wielded, which had run out of charge three quarters of the way through the fight, leaving him with just a sharpened metal pole. It would be a shame if he turned into one of the very things he had helped them defeat.

"Can I try something?" She asked, and Hendar looked at her in confusion. "I know it might not work, but I'd like to see if I could try something."

He shrugged, and gestured at the ragged scratches. "Go ahead. If it doesn't work, at least you tried, right?"

Jessel smiled grimly at the notion, before pulling out an antidote kit. Hendar opened his mouth to speak, but she shushed him with a wave of her hand. "Just trust me, okay?"

She opened the altered kolto syringe and carefully used it on Hendar's wound. It healed slightly, but the redness remained, and the kolto started to bubble, causing Hendar to hiss. She glanced up at him. "This might hurt a bit."

He looked at her, wishing he could see her eyes so he could guess what she was going to do, but nodded anyway. He jumped in surprise when she laid her hands on the wounds, her skin strangely cold, before a warm trickled started to flow into his side. It was only lukewarm at first, but as it started eradicating the poison infesting his veins, it started to burn, as though she was pouring fire into his veins and burning the poison out.

Jessel furrowed her brow in concentration. It had been a long time since she had used such blatantly _helpful_ Force powers – as a Sith Lord she had usually just drained the life force of others to heal her wounds – and she dragged up every good feeling she had felt since going on vacation. From hanging out with Nairua and Hex before she was deployed, to the amusement she felt when Carth had choked on the Bloody Rancor. The warm feeling that she associated with her love for Bastila – purely platernal – and the pulse she could feel in the back of her mind that denoted her Force Bond with the younger Jedi, who was inherently a good person.

She watched as the redness slowly receded, ignoring the way Hendar was sweating, the worried look on Hester's face as she watched the Sith Lord work on her husband, and the curious and suspicious gazes of Carth and the gate guard. It seemed to disappear millimetre by millimetre, until finally it was gone completely, and she relaxed. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face as she looked up at the surprised Hendar, who was poking his side in amazed, and she grinned in triumph.

"I-I don't believe it!" He exclaimed, and showed the space where the wound had been to Hester. The skin was smooth and unblemished, as though the wound had never existed in the first place. Hester gasped in delight as well, and turned to Jessel.

"Thank you so much! If I had anything of value I would gladly give it to you, but all I have are the clothes on my back and Hendar." She gushed, and Jessel smiled as she straightened, stretching her back. She was rewarded with a large 'pop' as it cracked, and she grinned at the overjoyed couple.

"No sweat. I haven't done that in a while, but it worked just like I'd hoped it would." She explained, and Hester really jumped this time, looping her arms around Hendar's neck. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, and the two acted like lovesick teenagers instead of the middle aged couple that they were. She glanced over at Carth to see him watching them with a soft smile, obviously pained but wistful at the same time. "I'm happy I could help."

"Thank you, upworlder." Hendar said seriously, before turning back to his wife. "Come on Hester, let's go home."

They walked off, back into the village, and Carth and Jessel followed them inside. The gate closed behind them, and the guard rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Don't I feel like a jerk for refusing to open the gate now?"

"Not at all," Carth said. "You acted in the best interests of the village, and it was pure luck that we happened to be here and that Jessel could…heal…Hendar. Any other time, and he would have been eaten by those things, or turned into one himself. He was just really lucky."

Jessel caught the suspicious glance he cast at her though, and smiled softly at it. Some things would never change.

A moment of light-headedness caught her by surprise, and she wavered on the spot, almost falling. She caught herself though, but Carth saw it and was beside her in an instant.

"Are you alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?" He asked, and she chuckled.

"No, thankfully. I don't think I could do another one of those miracles any time soon. I'm just a little tired from using so much energy in one go." She explained, and caught herself as she wavered again. "Though I may want to sleep soon. And eat. Did we bring any rations, Carth?"

"Yes, we did. Come on, maybe Gendar will have somewhere for you to rest." He led her over to the village leaders tent, half supporting her at times, where a very happy Gendar was sitting whittling something into a thick piece of duriplast. He looked up at their approach, and smiled widely.

"I heard what you did for Hendar, and I thank you. Not many would risk their lives so in such a situation, and then go out of their way to find a way to cure the infection. If only we had some of that serum the Sith have, but alas, they will not share. What can I do for you?" He set aside the small blade he was using and the block, standing up to greet them. Carth gestured at Jessel and Gendar noticed how tired she seemed to be as she wavered slightly on her feet. "Ah. Follow me – I will take you to one of our cleaner tents as I'm sure she doesn't wish to sleep in the mud."

"You assume correct." She muttered to herself as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. It appeared that she had used _much_ more energy than she had first thought. Carth walked beside her, ready to catch her if she fell, and she felt a moment of gratitude at the fact that at least _he_ wouldn't kill her while she was weak. No. If he ever found out who she was, he'd challenge her to a duel; nothing barred, and then die nobly for the Republic in an attempt to take her out with him.

She snorted at the thought as she kicked off her boots – which were filthy – and lay down in the bed made from multiple mattresses piled on top of each other, creating a nest of comfort that smelled a bit like mud. She crinkled her nose at the thought, but decided to ignore it in favour of replenishing her resources that she had so carelessly spent healing Hendar. She shouldn't have let her Healing ability fall that far, but she'd really had no use for it as a Dark Lord.

Maybe she should take it up again.

* * *

Carth watched as Jessel slept, curled up in the mess of blankets and mattresses like a sleeping Kath Hound. Only, she didn't snore. In fact, she didn't even move, and if he hadn't known she was there, he'd had mistaken the bed for just a pile of cloth, messily dumped on the mattresses when someone else had woken up.

He thought back to the healing of Hendar and scowled. There was something she wasn't telling him, _again_, and he was getting a little tired of it. First she wouldn't tell him her real name, then she wouldn't tell him her plans, and then there was the whole Ailesa Naal fiasco, which she had walked away from without a single scratch and covered in blood. Now she could heal people of incurable diseases?

Something wasn't adding up.

What did she say when he had asked for her name – he wasn't ready to hear her first name and she didn't know her last name because she had been taken from her family when she was very young, and trained. For what? The only thing that he could think of that needed training from an extremely young age was the Jedi Order.

Then she said that she'd been hiding her identity for years. Undercover mission? Possibly. And her protégé had betrayed her. The only people he knew of that would betray their masters were Sith. And it was her apprentice's betrayal that led her to be captured, by Bastila of all people. So…she was a Dark Jedi? That would also explain the way she had fought over a hundred mercenaries without getting a single scratch, and how she was able to heal Hendar. And healing was a supposedly a light skill, so if she was freshly converted from the dark side, that would explain why she found it so hard.

And she could have been on an undercover mission which required her to stick near Bastila, which would also explain why the Republic never received her real name, and why she had been a last minute add on. And why she made it off the Endar Spire without a scratch. And she could have been asleep when the Spire was attacked – that was why she wasn't able to help Bastila.

So, she was a reformed Dark Jedi, who Bastila had caught by chance at the untimely betrayal of her Apprentice. She was enlisted into the Republic as an undercover mission, and used a false name to achieve that end. Her mission had something to do with Bastila, which was why Bastila knew her real name and why she was a last minute add-on to the Endar Spire crew. Because she was a Jedi, she had made it off the Spire without a scratch, and also through the Ailesa fiasco. And because she was reformed, she had trouble using a Heal, but still managed to do it, which was why she was so tired. And she had Healed Hendar because she was trying to redeem herself.

He nodded to himself. He had her recent past mainly figured out, not that it comforted him much, and her reason for being so devoted to Bastila. And if it _was_ an undercover mission, it explained why he hadn't seen her use any Force powers until now. She had been under orders not to reveal herself.

It made sense now. But he didn't understand why she said that she was on vacation. Maybe this mission was a lot easier than being a Sith?

He shook his head to shoo the thought away, and focused on her. She didn't look like a Sith, so she was probably neutral. She just didn't have the same glow about her that the Jedi did. But he'd figured her out, finally. And he knew what he had to do to prevent her betrayal, and if she _still_ betrayed him, he knew how to fight her.

Most of it made sense now. And that was good enough for him.


	6. Chapter 6

Myosotis

_Myosotis: Greek for 'mouse ear', a small blue flower commonly known as the 'Forget-me-not'_

Author's Note: Last chapter of the Redux. A few plot changes in here, so skimming is suggested. If you cant be bothered, just skip ahead when the next cjapter comes out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I do own anything original that you may see here, however. But only the original stuff.

* * *

Chapter Six

"Please, someone, you have to help me! Anyone, please help!" Gendar looked up at the frantic calls, and climbed to his feet as Mission Vao ran up to him. "They-they took him! Help!"

"Whoa, calm down child. What took who?" He asked, and the blue Twi'lek looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"The-the Gamorreans! Me and Zaalbar – we were exploring the sewers like normal, only this time they were waiting! They jumped us, and Zaalbar told me to run! I-I thought he was right behind me, but when I turned to look he was gone!" She explained, and Gendar sighed.

"As much as I would not wish that fate upon anyone, there is truly nothing I can do. My village is not strong enough to help you in this endeavour." Missions eyes started welling up and Gendar held up a hand to stall any outburst. "However, in the tent next to mine are a duo who were looking for you. One of them is a miracle worker – perhaps they will be able to help."

The teenager looked in the direction he pointed, and saw the brown haired man from the Javyaar's Cantina sitting on a plasteel cylinder in front of a small fire. He looked to be deep in thought. She turned back to the village leader and thanked him profusely before running over to the older man.

"Please, you have to help me!" She yelled as she grew closer, and he looked up at her.

"What?" He asked, and she skidded to a halt in front of him.

"My friend, Zaalbar, was captured by Gamorrean slavers as we were exploring the sewers! I have to help him, but I'm not strong enough! Please, will you help me?" She begged, and he nodded.

"Yeah, we'll help."

Mission squealed her thanks, and hopped from foot to foot. "Come on, we have to go now! Who knows what they'll do to him."

She turned to run off, but Carth chuckled nervously. "Well see, there's the problem. I'm not leaving without her," he jerked his thumb into the tent, "and she's asleep right now."

"So wake her up!" Mission demanded, and his eyes widened in dread at the thought.

"Uh…no. I don't have a pillow this time, and I don't know if she'll even react the same way." He stated, and she crossed her arms at him.

"You just don't want to help me!" She accused, and he looked at her before sighing.

"Fine. But stay behind me. If you get hurt, it's your own fault." He pulled himself to his feet and wandered off for a few minutes, before coming back with a pole.

Carth looked into the tent and lined up the pole with what he assumed was Jessel's foot, before stepping back and stretching his arm out as far as it would go. Mission looked at him curiously but stepped behind him as he had suggested, and he poked the sleeping woman. A second later, a small silver blur flew out of the tent, and they turned to look as the dagger hit Rukils main post with a _thunk_, burying halfway up to the hilt.

"…Carth?" Jessel looked at the arm holding the pole, and guessed that he was okay. She couldn't see her dagger anywhere nearby in the gloomy atmosphere though. "Why am I awake?"

Outside, Carth looked at Mission grimly, who was staring wide eyed at the dagger buried in the post. She looked at Carth in shock and gulped as she realised that _this_ was why he had been so reluctant to wake the sleeping woman.

"We have a…a mission." He told her, poking his head in the tent again. He could barely make out the shape of Jessel until she yawned and stretched like a cat, pulling her boots on and standing up.

"I thought we were already on a mission. You know, get into the Vulkar base, steal back the accelerator, win the swoop race to free Bastila, then get off this planet, preferably with all limbs intact." She stated, coming out of the tent. She spotted Mission who was still cowering behind Carth slightly. "Oh. This kind of Mission. And she couldn't wait for me to wake up naturally because…"

"Zaalbar got captured by Gamorrean slavers while we were exploring the sewers! We have to save him!" Mission explained, stepping out from behind Carth and crossing her arms.

"You're brave, girl. Alright, let's go. And then you can help us into the Vulkar base, okay?" Jessel looked at her and the Twi'lek nodded. She yawned and stretched her arms out, turning to Carth. "How long was I out? And did you see where my dagger went? I couldn't see it when I woke up."

He nodded and jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the tent across from them, where an old man was staring at the trio in shock. Her dagger was in the post, and she realised it would have been only a few centimetres off nailing him to the thing. "You've had about an hour and a half's sleep."

"Ah. Thanks." Jessel nodded and walked over to the old man, yanking her dagger out of the pastel pole. "Hi."

"You-you are the chosen one! Who will lead us all to victory and a better place for life!" He exclaimed, and she raised an eyebrow. "I am honoured to make your acquaintance, Chosen One."

"Ah, Force. Hey, yeah, I'm the Chosen One, no I won't help you do whatever it is you want done, and I have to go now." She stated, turning away from the crazy old man quickly. He would not be deterred though.

"Of course you do. You have a more important destiny ahead of you than helping old fools, Revan. Destroy or be Destroyed, Conquer or be Conquered. It is your choice whether you are to be a Saviour, a Hero, a Conqueror or a Villain. But rule the destruction, do not let it rule you, or everything you are working towards will crumble." His voice sounded hollow, with a strange echo within itself. She froze and turned back to the man stiffly, stepping forward.

She leant closer to him and whispered, "How do you know about that?"

He looked at her in confusion though, and took a step back in discomfort. "Know what?"

She sighed softly in frustration and straightened again, waving him off as she walked away. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." _That was the Force speaking through him. But why?_

Carth and Mission looked at her in confusion, but she waved them away as well. They hadn't heard the prophecy the old man had spoken, and she didn't particularly feel like enlightening them. "Let's go."

They nodded and followed behind her closer, blasters at the ready as they stepped out of the safety of the village and into the rakghoul infested underground.

* * *

"Just how many of these things are there?" Jessel growled as she cut through another one, and Mission was the one who answered.

"Heaps. They've been infecting the villagers for years and as more people get sent down here, whether it's by choice or not, they create more of them." She shot rapidly at an approaching rakghoul, killing it mere metres away from her position.

Carth grunted beside her as he took down more from his side, providing back up for Jessel as she attacked the fiends with her swords. Mission had let the older woman borrow her vibroblade, and she was cutting through the rakghouls a lot easier with both blades. But there were still an overwhelming number of them roaming around the area , and seemed that no sooner had they killed one group, another appeared to replace it.

"Mission, how in _space_ did you manage to get from the sewer doors to the village without meeting a single rakghoul?" Jessel demanded, and the Twi'lek grinned.

"I snuck around them. I'm pretty good at it, you know." Jessel snorted at the statement as she killed the last rakghoul, and turned to face the younger woman.

"If you can sneak around these things without being noticed even _once_, you're more than just _pretty good_. You'd have to be a fregging genius." She stated, and Mission beamed. The statement was a bit iffy, but the young teen decided to take it as a compliment.

"Thanks! Now, the sewers are this way." She led the way to a grate built into the side of an old building, which led into a small room with a ladder leading down in it. "If you thought this place was bad, you'll hate it down there."

Jessel scrunched her nose at the thought and turned to Carth. "That's it. I am burning this entire outfit when we get back to the Lower City, and we are never coming down here again."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Mission teased, and she turned to the teen.

"I _hate_ mud. And I _refuse_ to wear an outfit that is going to be _covered_ in crap. Literally. Even _if_ it has been scrubbed down fifteen times before I even _see_ it again." She hissed, and Carth snorted.

"So what, you can get covered in gallons of blood, but a little mud and faeces and you run for the hills?" He asked, and she glared at him. "That's just stupid."

"_Shut. Up._" She growled at him, and he gulped, all traces of amusement gone. Mission looked from his paling face to Jessel's covered one, and wondered what was going on, before deciding to ignore it.

"Well, we won't get any closer to Zaalbar or the Vulkar base just standing here. We have to go down sooner or later, so why not just get it over and done with?" She stated, and Jessel scowled before turning stiffly on her heel and stalking over to the ladder.

"Fine. I'll go first. I have a better chance of surviving than you two if there's anything waiting down there. I'll call if it's all clear." She sat on the ground beside the ladder, wincing as she did so, and swung her legs into the hole, quickly climbing down. The two left behind looked at each other before looking back into the hole, trying to see anything in the gloom.

There were a few squeals of pain and surprise, which meant that at least one Gamorrean had been waiting down there, probably to catch Mission when she came to rescue her friend.

Pity they didn't expect her to get competent help.

A minute later, and a green glow rod lit up down below, highlighting Jessel and casting her in scary shadows.

"It's all clear." She stated, and Mission nodded before climbing down next. Carth was quick to follow her, and they looked around at the corpses of three Gamorreans bleeding out on the ground. Jessel had a few purple blood splatters on her face, but she was unharmed. "Let's go."

Mission nodded, and the two gun-users followed behind Jessel, occasionally stopping to point out the way to the Gamorrean base.

They opened one last door, and were attacked by four Gamorreans who charged them as soon as the door was open wide enough, brandishing their battle axes. Carth fired at one, wearing it down as it charged Jessel, who quickly finished it off before turning to the next. The group worked in tandem for a few minutes, until three Gamorreans were lying dead at their feet.

Jessel looked around suspiciously. She could have sworn there were four of them. If so, where…

A scream from Mission caught her attention, and she whipped around to see the last Gamorrean, a big albino brute who was probably the leader of the gang, towering over Mission with his axe raised, ready to cleave the teen in two. She gathered the Force in her legs and jumped, doing a somersault midair before landing on the Gamorreans back and plunged her swords down his neck, ignoring the resistance his spine gave before snapping. She rode him down as he fell forward, almost landing on top of Mission, and pulled her swords out of his neck.

Mission stared at the woman in awe and gratitude, and even Carth as pretty impressed. That had looked pretty cool.

"You alright, Mission?" She asked the teen, who nodded emphatically.

"Yeah, thanks to you. That was so cool! Where did you learn to do that?" She asked, and Jessel shrugged.

"Here and there." She turned to look at the door next to where they had come in, and studied the lock. "Wow, this thing is ancient. It's one of those manual locks."

Mission perked up and hurried over to take a look with her. "Hey, you're right! I haven't seen one of these in _ages_. Luckily, I know how to crack them."

She typed into the ancient keypad that was almost completely rusted over, and stuck her tongue out in concentration. She was soon rewarded with a _click_ as the lock gave way and the door slid open with a _whoosh_. Standing just on the other side was a familiar Wookie, who gathered Mission into a hug when he saw her.

"_Mission! You are a sight for sore eyes._" He said, and the Twi'lek giggled as she tried to get the fur out of her face.

"Yeah, me too, Z. But I never would have gotten here without the help of these two!" She gestured to the two humans standing to the side, watching, and he looked up at them.

One was standing, watching him warily with a blaster rifle in his hands, but unharmed, while the other was grinning at the pair. The female had more than a few Gamorrean blood splatters on her arms and face, and two swords were hanging casually from her belt. Neither were wearing armour, but there wasn't a scratch on either of them.

"_My name is Jessel Nidalas. Nice to see you again Zaalbar._" Jessel spoke in Shyriiwook, and both Carth and Zaalbar looked at her in surprise.

"_You know the language of my people? That is rare among your species; I am impressed."_ He said, and Jessel waved a hand.

"Think nothing of it. I know a lot of languages – came with the job." She explained, and Mission looked at her curiously.

"What is your job?" She asked, and Jessel paused for a moment in thought.

"Well, right now I'm a mercenary I guess. But I was a bounty hunter before, a dancer, a professional pazaak player, a duelist – but I quickly gave that up in favour of letting Carth take the spotlight – and a smuggler, among other things." She shrugged, and Carth coughed into his fist. Those were the jobs she had taken up while on Taris, nothing about beforehand. Though he wasn't sure about the dancer…

"_Regardless, you have saved me from a life of servitude and slavery. There is only one way I can ever repay such an act: I will swear a lifedebt to you." _Mission looked at him is surprise and no small amount of shock, while Jessel froze.

"A lifedebt? Are you sure about that, Big Z? Think about this carefully. You better be sure about this." Mission warned him, but he shook his head.

"_I am sure, Mission. This is an issue of great importance to me."_ Jessel's eyes widened. This wasn't good – if he swore a lifedebt he would have to come with her and fight against the Republic when her vacation was over, and he would probably whine at her about the millions of lives she was destroying until she was finally sick of him and killed him. "_Because of our great strength, Wookiees are used as slave labour on our own homeworld. They see us as brutes and animals to be exploited. Over the years, slavers have taken many of my people; we must always be on guard against raids on our villages. When the Gamorreans captured me, I thought I was doomed to such a fate. I have been saved from such a life, and the only way I can repay that is through a lifedebt._"

"Wow." Mission turned to Jessel, who was still frozen. "Big Z is swearing a Wookiee lifedebt to you. This is major. Do you know what this means?"

"Only too well." She turned to Zaalbar, and spoke in Shyriiwook. "_You do not want to swear a lifedebt to me. I will do many things in the future that go against your beliefs._"

"_That does not matter. It is the only way my pride will alleviate me – a lifedebt in return for saving my life. In the presence of all standing here, I swear my lifedebt. Forever after I will be by your side, Jessel Nidalas. May my vow be as strong as the roots of the great Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk._" He bowed slightly to her, and she reluctantly bowed back, accepting the lifedebt.

"I guess this means you're stuck with me too. Wherever Big Z goes, I'm going. I almost lost him once – it's not going to happen again." Mission declared, and Jessel snapped out of her shock enough to give her a tiny smile.

"Welcome aboard. Let's get going." She turned on her heel and almost floated away, still in a state of shock. Zaalbar looked curiously at Mission who shrugged before looking at Carth, who also shrugged. This wasn't normal behaviour from her, but they didn't know what had caused it.

* * *

"Wow. That's really purple. And uh…sparkly. Almost pretty. Pity we have to shut it down." Jessel commented, staring at the force field separating the Vulkars base form the rest of the sewers. Mission hummed from where she was typing at the console.

"Yeah, but it's pretty strong too. I guess the designers just wanted a pretty strength, and the Vulkars wanted to try to look good." She commented lightly, and Carth snorted.

"Seriously? Pretty jokes?" He asked, and Jessel grinned at him.

"What's the matter, Carth? Jealous that the Vulkars look prettier than you because of their sparkly purple shield?" She teased, and laughed when he spluttered in indignation. "Relax, Flyboy. I'm just teasing your manliness – nothing wrong with that."

He scowled in irritation and turned away, only to turn back a second later when Mission shouted in triumph.

"Hah! Take that, Vulkars! That'll teach you to get drunk around me!" She crowed, and Zaalbar shook his head. Jessel just smirked at her before leading the way deeper into the sewers.

As they travelled deeper into the sewers, Mission became progressively more jittery, twitching at the smallest of sounds, such as Zaalbars footsteps behind her, and Carths rifle clicking when he flicked a switch. Jessel watched her out of the corner of her eye, before she finally stoped and whirled on the young Twi'lek.

"All right, what aren't you telling us?" She demanded, her hands on her hips as she looked down at Mission. Mission shrunk back and nervously poked her fingers together, glancing around as though looking for an escape. Zaalbar watched her in confusion, before he spoke in understanding.

"_You didn't tell them, did you?_" he asked her, and she shook her head apprehensively. He sighed. "_Mission…_"

"What? I was going to!" She stated defensively, and Jessel quirked an eyebrow at the girl. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the probing gaze coming from the dark haired woman and cringed.

"Mission…" Carth started lowly, and she looked up at him, "what aren't you telling us?"

"W-well, that is…uh…" She stuttered, and Jessel rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Hurry it up, girl. I don't have all day, or the rest of the week for that matter." She stated bluntly, and Carth shot her a reproachful look as Mission seemed to shrink in on herself. Jessel shrugged. "What? It's the truth. The truth hurts sometimes. And that's the truth!"

Zaalbar rolled his eyes at the human woman's antics and turned to Carth. "_There is a Rancor in the sewers. It guards the entrance to the Black Vulkars base._"

"A_ Rancor_!" Carth exclaimed.

"_Indeed. It is at least four times my height._" The Wookiee explained, and Carth choked. Jessel rolled her eyes again.

"I can deal with it." She stated, and then grinned. "I've always wanted to fight a fully grown Rancor before. The only ones I've ever fought were only one and a half times my height."

Carth stared at her as though she had just turned into a Hutt, Mission looked at her as if she couldn't believe her ears, and Zaalbar looked pained at the thought of being lifedebted to such an insane person. Well, as pained as a Wookiee could look when all the fur was taken into account.

"You are _not_ fighting a Rancor! Escpecially not that size, or by yourself! And none of us could stand up to it!" Carth exclaimed, and she scowled before sighing.

"Fine. And I suppose, last time I _did_ have my Apprentice with me. We managed to carve them up pretty well between the two of us, but he was a lot stronger than you lot. Alright, I'll deal with it in a different way." She looked each of them in the eye sternly, and Mission gulped. "But you are to do _exactly_ as I say. Understood?"

"Understood." Mission squeaked, and Carth and Zaalbar nodded. She could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.

Jessel led the way onwards, following the only viable path through the sewers, and stopped when they reached a dismembered Bith arm that held a datapad and a vial. She picked up the datapad and read it quickly, before scoffing and tossing it back to the arm.

"Okay, this is it. Now here's what I want you to do." She paused for a second, and her three companions leant forward, tension and nerves running riot in their bodies. She grinned widely at them, and they almost dreaded her next sentence. "Don't attack."

Carth was the first to speak after the initial shock, and protested loudly. "WHAT! You expect us to not attack when we are faced off against that thing? Do you know how suicidal that is?"

"Wow, Jessel. I thought you actually had a plan, but then you pull something like this. Are you trying to get yourself killed or something?" Mission asked, and Zaalbar nodded his head.

"Just trust me on this, okay? As long as you don't attack the Rancor, the Rancor won't attack you." She was still grinning, which didn't do much to bolster their spirits, but they acquiesced anyway, though Carth and Mission grumbled a bit more.

Jessel opened the door and motioned for the other three to stay back for a moment as she stepped into the room. They watched apprehensively as she seemed to just stand there, concentrating. The Rancor stared back, and for a moment Carth was certain it was going to attack her. But the corners of her mouth lowered ever so slightly, and the beast finally turned away and plodded over to the pile of half eaten bodies in the other corner of the room.

Jessel waved her hand swiftly at the waiting trio, beckoning them forward quickly without breaking her concentration. They moved into the room, their eyes on the Rancor beast the entire time that they crossed the seemingly endless expanse to the Vulkar base, expecting it to turn around and attack them at any moment. But the beast ignored them as they inched along, though Mission could see the sweat building up on Jessel's forehead.

After what seemed like forever, they stepped into the corridor leading to the Vulkars base, and out of reach of the Rancor. Jessel broke her concentration, breathing heavily as the Rancor seemed to look around then come lumbering back to the entrance.

"What-what was _that_?" Mission exclaimed, and Jessel grinned at her.

"Just something I learnt a while back." She stated, and Carth looked sharply at her.

"Was that part of your…training…that you did when you were younger?" He asked, and Jessel smiled, impressed. It appeared he had put a few of her clues together and guessed that she had been trained as a Jedi a couple of years ago.

"Yeah. It's actually a pretty easy technique, but Rancors are very resistant to the skill so it took a lot of energy to dominate him. And he was a fully grown Rancor, so he was even more resistant than I'm used to." She explained, and grinned ruefully. "Don't expect me to pull off anymore 'miracles' today. I'm still recuperating from healing Hendar, and now this, but I won't collapse any time soon."

Carth nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Zaalbar. "How are you with a sword? I think it might be a good idea to have someone up there fighting hand to hand alongside Jessel because she's so tired."

Zaalbar nodded, and took the vibroblade that Jessel offered him. The hilt was a little small for his hands, but he was used to accommodating for that. Most human-made weapons were. And as Jessel led the way into the Vulkar base – she always leads, never follows – Zaalbar was only a step behind her, with Mission and Carth following from roughly a metre back, bringing up the rear.

* * *

"_Looks like we have visitors – lackeys conned by Gadon Thek into stealing Brejik's swoop engine accelerator I bet!_" The green Twi'lek said, and Mission scoffed.

"Brejik's accelerator? He stole that from Gadon! It was never his to begin with!" Mission argued, and the older male scowled.

"_Well I didn't go to all that trouble getting it just so you could steal it back for that old fool!_" He argued, and the orange female Twi'lek beside him placed a calming hand on his arm.

"_Would you like me to dispose of these Bek spies, Kandon? I'll happily do it._" She offered, looking at the group with bloodlust in her eyes. The others were slightly unnerved, but Jessel scoffed.

"Please, you call that bloodlust? No, _this_ is bloodlust." She shook her fringe out of one of her eyes and stared at Kandon, grinning insanely. He paled under the force of her gaze and took a step back, and even his bodyguard was shaken up. Mission tried to get around the group to see what she was showing them, but Zaalbar stopped her. Even _he_ didn't want to see it.

"_Kill them! Kill them now!_" Kandon yelled, waving a shaking arm at the group. The flunkies standing beside him open fired, and his bodyguard shook oft her fear to charge at the deposed Sith Lord. Jessel's grin grew wider, and she dived at the orange Twi'lek while her companions fired at Kandon and his two lackeys. She ducked underneath her initial swing, letting the woman become unbalanced as she stepped into her guard, and bisected her.

Mission's eyes widened at the brutality, and she almost faltered as Jessel stepped on the Twi'lek's corpse and stalked towards Kandon. Kandon stepped back in fear, brandishing his longsword uselessly in an attempt to fend her off. She tilted her head to the side as she studied the male for a moment, before she shrugged and swung her sword, disarming the man. He backed up, but found his back against the wall as she advanced, ignoring the blaster bolts flying around as the two remaining guards tried to shoot her, and Mission and Carth shot them. Zaalbar stood back as there was no room or need for him to be in there with a sword.

Kandon sank slightly, sagging against the wall in an attempt to look smaller before the vision of death before him. He could still see one dark grey eye, staring balefully at him above a grin, and he whimpered. "Please, have mercy."

Jessel paused at that, and pretended to think. She watched Kandon's eyes fill will hope, before she smirked evilly. "No."

His hopes crashed down and terror entered his eyes as she raised her sword. There was a spray of blood, and when she stepped away he had been decapitated. Her front was covered in blood splatters again, and her fringe was sticking in place with one eye being shown to the world.

Mission stared at her in horror before turning to Carth. "You willingly _travel_ with her?"

He winced and looked at the teen seriously. "No, but if I didn't and if it wasn't for Bastila, she'd be on the Siths side. And they'd set her loose on planets like this with only one command: _kill_."

The young Twi'leks breath hitched at the thought, and decided that even though Jessel was utterly terrifying, she'd rather hang out with her and be on her side than run away and have the woman join the Sith. Zaalbar grimaced as best he could, and shook his head. _She warned me I didn't want a lifedebt to her. I was foolish enough to ignore her advice._

"Hey look! A swoop accelerator!" Jessel yelled cheerfully, snapping everyone out of their thoughts as she lifted the heavy engine. She staggered slightly under the weight, and Zaalbar moved forward to help her, taking it form her with a little more ease than she had. "Thanks, Zaal."

"Come on, let's get this back to Gadon." Carth said, and Jessel nodded, leading them out the front doors this time. They followed her quickly, Zaalbar resigning himself to being the carrier and staying out of the fights that arose as more Vulkars appeared and tried to stop them.

They made good time back to the Hidden Beks base, and the door guard looked at Jessel's muddy and bloody state before stepping aside and letting them in. Jessel nodded at the woman, grinning, and sauntered up to Gadon, where Zaalbar set the accelerator down on his desk. Gadon took a look at the accelerator before looking up at them.

"You have my thanks, friends. I am sure you will be needing our refreshers, and perhaps a spare change of clothes. Mission knows her way around; she can show you where to find everything. I'll sponsor you to race in the bike with the accelerator, and you can win back your friend." He said, and Jessel nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to win. Then you can say that you won the season opener, and I can get Bastila. Everyone wins." She stated, and he nodded back.

"That's the plan." A pair of Bek mechanics took the accelerator away and Gadon turned back to his work. Jessel turned to Mission, who looked at her in apprehension.

"Do you think we can find some clothes a bit like this outfit? It's pretty comfortable, but I'm gonna burn it, so I was wondering if we could scrounge up anything. Oh, and I need new boots too. I think I have poodoo in between my toes." She scrunched her nose, and Mission copied her.

"Yeah, that's pretty nasty. I'm sure we can find something, and I'll even help you burn it. How's that sound?" She offered, and was rewarded with a grin, the one visible eye shining in mirth. The Twi'lek decided she liked Jessel's eyes, they were pretty, but she was glad the older woman usually covered them. She didn't want to see what could make _Kandon Ark_ cower like a little child.

Ever.

* * *

The morning of the race, Jessel woke up bright and early, long before anyone else. She pulled on the tight black and purple outfit that showed more than the previous one had. Mission had handed it to her yesterday; accompanied by a strange look, and Jessel pulled on her new Bek jacket – blue with yellow stripes – over the top as she mused about the reason why. She also had brand new boots that were great for kicking people and had a good tread on them, and laced them up quickly. Mission had looked at her strangely when she asked if they had any boots with laces, but the girl had easily led her to the back of the storage room where an entire locker of the more unpopular styles of shoes were. Most of them had laces, and she had taken her pick.

She set off for the mess hall, where only one person was up. Zaerdra took one look at the outfit she was wearing before choking on her breakfast and hurrying out of the room. Jessel looked in the direction theTwi'lek had fled in confusion before shrugging and ignoring it, grabbing her own breakfast and caffa.

Gadon came in next, and he paused at the sight of only Jessel in the room, with Zaerdra nowhere in sight. Usually the purple and cream Twi'lek would stay in there until he'd had his breakfast; 'in order to prevent anyone poisoning you'. He shrugged before grabbing his own bowl and sitting next to his fellow early riser. It was nice to eat without Zaerdra hanging over his shoulder occasionally.

"Good morning." He said to the woman, and she turned to him. He mused that the blank curtain of hair must unnerve people more than his eyes, because at least they knew where he was looking. She could be facing you, and you would have no idea if she was paying attention or holding a staring contest with a cat three metres to your left.

"Morning." She answered, before taking a long drink of caffa. "Zaerdra was in here earlier."

"Oh?" He asked, and the woman nodded. "I wonder why she didn't stay. She usually likes to make sure that no one poisons my breakfast while I'm eating it."

Jessel chuckled at that. "Yeah, she saw me and kind of choked before running out. She didn't look too happy."

He looked over at his breakfast companion, and looked as hard as he could. He couldn't see very well with the implants, but if he concentrated hard enough he could usually make out a few details. The woman looked normal enough – black hair, pale skin, a Hidden Bek jacket and- "Ah, I know why. You're wearing the outfit her sister favoured. But Ylrayn died in an unfortunate swoop accident a few years ago, and Zaerdra couldn't bear to look at it, so it was put in storage. It is good to see it put to use actually. It is a fine article of clothing."

Jessel paused and looked down at the clothes before shrugging. It wasn't her problem. She liked the outfit, so she was going to wear it. "Do you mind if I keep it then? It _is_ a nice outfit, and I don't have many."

He shrugged. "Sure. I'll even head Zaerdra off so that by the time she realises you walked off with her sister's outfit it's too late."

"Thanks." She grinned at the gang leader and drained her caffa, standing up. "I'm off to check the bike over. It's not that I don't trust your mechanics, I just like to get top know the bike I'm going to race in."

"It's no problem. I'll see you after the races." She waved back at the eating male, and strode away.

* * *

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of this years swoop race! Put your hands together and show your appreciation for one of the most daring riders this swoop track has ever seen!_" The announcing Duros turned to Jessel, who grinned. "_Through your skill and courage, you have proven yourself the premier swoop rider on Taris, and brought great glory to the Hidden Bek gang! Now, here to present the champion's prize; Brejik, the leader of the Black Vulkars._"

Brejik stepped up, and smirked slightly at Jessel before turning to face the holorecorders. Jessel smirked right back, and inwardly prayed. She was rewarded when Brejik opened his mouth.

"People – hear me! Before I present the so called champion of the Beks with their prize, there is something you must know: the winning rider cheated!" He exclaimed, and Jessel scoffed before stepping up next to him.

"Oh please. You're just jealous that you couldn't do something as ingenious as design your own swoop accelerator. You stole it off the Beks, and then we stole it back. So don't give us that 'you cheated' crap!" She pointed out, and the riders around her nodded.

"Nonsense! And what's more, in light of this information and your false accusations, I'm withdrawing the Vulkar's share of the victory prize!" He shouted, glaring around as if daring anyone to contradict him. It was the race announcer who spoke up.

"_You can't do that! You know the rules: nobody's allowed to withdraw a victory prize after the race. It goes against all our most sacred traditions!_" He argued, and Jessel nodded.

"Stop being such a sore loser, Brejik. No wonder Gadon didn't hand the Beks over to you – you're so obviously unfit to lead a gang effectively." She stated, and he whirled on her, his eyes blaring.

"If I want to withdraw the prize and sell this woman on the slave market myself, nobody can stop me!" He screamed. Jessel felt the Force flare up and the cage holding Bastila flew open suddenly, knocking out the guard in front of her. She stooped and picked up the double-bladed sword he had been holding before straightening and glaring at Brejik.

"I might have something to say about that." He whirled around to look at the woman, and stepped back in shock.

"What? How! You were restrained by a neural disruptor! How could you have possibly summoned the will to free yourself? Vulkars to me! Kill the prisoner! Kill the swoop rider! Kill them all!" Jessel stepped forward and tapped him on the shoulder, attracting his attention. He paled at the feral grin on her face as she suddenly lashed out and caught him in a choke hold, snapping his neck easily. She turned to look at the Vulkars who had reached for their weapons, and smiled, daring them to continue doing so.

The Vulkars glanced at each other before dropping their weapons and fleeing in terror. The Beks looked at her too before deciding against it and fleeing back to Gadon. The holorecorder crew had all fled as the first sign of trouble, and Jessel picked up a camera, grinned into it and turned it off before dumping it on top of Brejik's body.

"You!" Bastila demanded, and she drew herself up to her full height. "If you think you can claim me as a – wait. I don't believe it! You're…you're one of the soldiers with the Republic, aren't you?"

Jessel sighed and looked at her, smiling softly as she rested her weight on one leg. "Come on, Bastila. You can do better than that. Honestly, me a Republic soldier? Get real."

She snorted and Bastila looked as though she was caught with her hands in the cookie jar. That only made her laugh harder before it died down and she smiled softly again. "Come here, little sister."

Bastila found herself tearing up for some reason, and she ran into the welcoming arms of her surrogate sister, the one who she had thought she had lost forever. Jessel merely wrapped her arms around her and sank to her knees, bringing Bastila with her. She stroked the younger Jedi's hair in comfort, and kissed the top of her head.

"Sh, it's okay, Bumblebee. It's okay. I'm here, and I'll never leave. Not even the Council could ever take away my memories. I'll never leave." She continued to whisper things to that effect until Bastila had cried all her tears out, and they headed to their apartment, where Carth, Mission and Zaalbar were waiting for them.

But inside her mind, strongly shielded from the Bond she had with Bastila, Jessel knew it was a lie. She would leave, but not in that sense.

She would leave to resume her bombardment on the Republic. She would leave to go to the dark side again, willingly, because it was who she was now. She revelled in the darkness, controlled it, even as it controlled her.

She _would_ conquer the Republic, and rule over it. She _would _train her own 'Jedi', teaching them to be stronger, far stronger than those fools on the council.

And she would break her promise.


End file.
